Showing posts with label Hatchments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hatchments. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Hertfordshire Hatchments

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.