Charlecote Park From the Library - Len Mullenger and Chris Purvis Here be Gryphons   At Charlecote there are so may things where it seems impossible to find a conclusive answer. For instance who did confer a knighthood on Thomas Lucy II, why does the house only have two turrents instead of four in the painting in the Great Hall and what is being considering now: why are there Griffins in the library and around the property. Chris Purvis and I have been discussing the latter for some time. doorstops Library Banner If you examine the Lucy carpet in the Library the border consists of the crests bearing either a boar or a griffin (above right). The Lucy crest is a winged boar's head sitting in a crown. Properly described as: Out of a ducal coronet gules a boar's head ermine between two wings displayed sable billetee or in English. On top of a red crown (not a Duke's crown) a boar's head ermine between two black wings scattered with small gold rectangles. It also appears on the small banner in the library and most beautifully in the doorstops used in the Great Hall.(left) The griffins appear not just in the carpet but also on the large firescreen and there are numerous griffins in the ceiling. Griffin in carpet griffin on firescreen       If you enter the property through the main gates there are two boars on columns but also two Griffins on the inner columns. Chris Purvis is sure that the boar was the original Lucy crest so what are we to make of the griffins? Either way the gates were installed by Gibson in 1861 so do not really tell us anything. Our ideas became confused by the arrival of the two silver platters now in the dining room. These show the Lane coat of arms and the crests have griffins. The assumption was that the griffins represented the Lane family line. Subsequently Chris found that the Lane family had a totally different crest so the one on the platters was actually a Lucy crest. This is supported by looking at the Reverend William Lucy bookplate shown in the Guide Book which also has a griffin. Coat of Arms of Diana, Princess of Wales after her divorce from 1996 to 1997 Many years ago Paul Williamson, a former house steward, said that he thought that the griffins represented the Spencer family. Certainly, Lady Diana's coat of arms was a pair of griffins wearing crowns as collars. I have heard doubt cast on a link between Alice Spencer and the Althorp (formerly Elthorp) Spencers. Click for the next page to see the Family tree obtained by Chris Purvis from The Heralds Visitation of Warwickshire (1619) showing the links highlighted in red. The collar is an important distinction. On the left above is the Spencer coat of arms and a collar on the griffin can clearly be seen. If you look at the silver platter griffins they too have a collar and those in the carpet have two markings indicative of a collar. So it would seem that when the library was being built the Victorian family were looking back to, and commemorating, the marriage (~1610) of Thomas Lucy the Third and Alice Spencer, the last Heiress to marry into the family and the Lucys would take over the Spencer arms. This means that as well as quartering the arms they would also take the crest. The importance of this marriage is demonstrated by the fact that the Cornelius Johnson portrait has remained in place of honour in the Great Hall. On the outer pendants of the library ceiling there are also griffins. These are playful little fellows because .... ...some have their eyes open ...some have their eyes shut ... some do wear collars. In conclusion it seems fairly certain that the boar was the initial crest with the griffins coming in following the marriage with Alice Spencer. Still to be resolved are the questions Why did Reverend Lucy use the griffin and not the boar - was it a matter of choice? Why do some griffins lack collars when the Spencer griffins always have them?   Postscript Dec 2011 Chris Purvis has been looking at Burke's Peerage for 1921 at the entry for Sir Henry William Ramsay-Fairfax-Lucy 3rd Bart. His arms bear three crests identified in Burke as Boar - Lucy, Griffin -Spencer, Lion - Fairfax. The Griffin has a collar.   Len Mullenger is a Sunday volunteer guide. Any comments are welcome and can be sent to len@musicweb-international.com Return to Index page