At first thought, a church might seem to be an unusual place to display a royal coat of arms. However, the display of the royal arms was once the rule rather than the exception in churches. From the moment of Henry VIII’s break with Rome, it became necessary to underline the monarch’s authority as head of the church, and this was done by substituting the king’s arms for the rood figure which was placed above the rood screen. Elizabeth I ordered that all churches should display the arms, but not all churches did so, and it became accepted practice only after 1660. When the archdeacons made their periodic visitations to check that churches were being properly run, those without the arms were very likely to be admonished!

Many coats of arms in churches were on boards painted by local sign painters and craftsmen. Sometimes the painting over of earlier arms can be seen. Others were higher quality pieces carved on wood or stone, and the Gillingham arms, carved in wood, is one of these. We are quite fortunate in still having this, since it has been estimated that only around a fifth of the arms once displayed in churches can still be found.

The arms are those of James I and were carved around 1618. They display the lion and unicorn of England and Scotland respectively, representing the coming together of the two crowns, although formal unification did not take place until 1707. The shield brings together the arms of England, Scotland, Ireland, and France. The French fleur de lis depictions go back to Edward III’s claim to the French throne. Inscribed on the base is: ‘painted and gilded by Thos. Matthews, A. Head and I. Read C.W. 1792’. On the unicorn is scratched ‘EI 1733’.

The parish records include a seating plan of the church for 1615, around the time when the arms first appeared. At this time the church was very much smaller than it is now, and the common people would be expected to stand, the seats being reserved for the better-off, who could afford to pay rent for them. There were 131 rented seats, the majority being on benches in either the north or south sides of the main body of the church. There were also the Weeke (probably Wyke) and St. James’s aisles, with fewer numbers. Another aisle was the ‘Morrowmas’ aisle, possibly so-called because it was used for the early morning mass. It is not clear where the aisles were, and the document may not be complete. Each Sunday as people faced the chancel, the royal arms above the rood screen would have reminded them to whom they were to look to as the head of the church.

It is likely that the arms may have been hidden away during the troubled years of the Civil War and the Commonwealth. In a town which was ‘full of the sons of royalist gentlemen’, a public display of the king’s arms would have been unpopular with the Parliamentary troops. This was a time when the church was ransacked and the vicar’s property was seized, to be given back to him only after the Restoration in 1660.

The royal arms were restored for the Queen’s coronation in 1953.