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| Hatchment in Wheathampstead Church |
Diamond-shaped funeral hatchment first came into vogue in the 17th century and examples can be seen in many Hertfordshire churches. They are of considerable interest to those who understand heraldry and provide information on the ancestry of the deceased.
There is a series of books on Hatchments in Britain and I recently came across a new copy online of Volume 6 covering Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire and Middlesex at a known-down price and decided to have a look. The descriptions are hard to understand unless you are familiar with the language of heraldry - but in each case identifies the name of the deceased and the families represented on the hatchment. I have listed the Hertfordshire churches with hatchments on the review page.
The sample is of no small interest to me given my Wheathampstead ancestry and residence in Denmark. There is also a bas relief in the church commemorating Charles Drake Garrard and his wife Ann. It was executed by Bertel Thorvaldsen. The model for it is in Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen They have also facsimiles of 5 letters from the son who commissioned the work (Charles Benet Drake Garrard who has his own memorial in the church) and one accepting the commission written in French by the sculptor. Anthony
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