The Wilford Archive

Drapers Arms

The Coat of Arms over the fireplace in the Great Hall (shown below) are those of the London Company of Drapers, as they existed during the period 1613 - 1668. 

It is almost certain, therefore, that they were painted during the latter part of that period to mark the union of the York Tailors and York Drapers to form the Company of Merchant Taylors in the City of York, which took place in 1662 on the granting of its Royal Charter.   

Two men dressed in ceremonial academic regalia standing in a wood-paneled room with an ornate painting behind them.

Allen Warren Master of the Company 2018/19 and The Rt Hon Lord Mayor of York Keith Orrell

Restoration

The Coat of Arms was restored in 1986 by Mr Warwick MacCallum with the aid of a generous grant of £4,000 from the London Drapers Company.  More than three complete layers of paint were removed to return the work to its original finish, but a small four-inch square panel was left at the bottom left-hand corner to show the colours before the restoration was started. (Details taken from Michael Mennim’s Book – The Merchant Taylors Hall, York, page 200.)    

Black and white photograph of two stained glass windows with coats of arms featuring lions and eagles, decorative elements, and banners with the phrase "UNTIL GOD HONOR AND GLORY".

Views of the Arms before and after the 1986 restoration

 The Arms depicted alongside are those of the London Company of Drapers as they existed between 1613 and 1668 – taken from their website. The Drapers’ subsequent Arms do not correspond to those depicted in the MT’s Hall. The central shield of the London Drapers Arms consists of sunbeams issuing from three flaming clouds with three imperial crowns of gold above.

A coat of arms featuring a blue shield with three towers, flanked by two golden lions, topped with a crest of a goat's head on a crown, and surrounded by decorative red and gray scrollwork.
A heraldic coat of arms featuring a shield with three towers, flanked by two leopards, topped with a crest of a goat's head and surrounded by decorative scrollwork and flowers.
A coat of arms featuring a shield with three silver towers on a blue background, flanked by two golden lions with black spots, and topped by a lamb on a green hill. A ribbon below bears Latin text, with decorative floral and scroll elements.

Early sketch and photo showing the

Drapers Coat of Arms

GAW – 27/4/2021 & Jan 2022

Split image showing two fireplaces with heraldic coats of arms and similar decorative elements, one in a black-and-white sketch and the other as a photograph.

From a sketch by DWL, a York Artist published in the Yorkshire Evening Press on the 3rd May 1954

1972 – from RCHM Photograph