The church petitioned for a confirmatory faculty following unauthorised conservation work on the royal coat of arms in 2017. The church was undergoing a successful re-ordering at the time, otherwise fully authorised by faculty, but no thought had been given to the need for a faculty for this discrete element.

The coat of arms is seventeenth century, of oil paint on oak boards. It has a chequered history, bearing both bird fouling and munitions damage. It shows signs of overpainting and is older than the marked date of 1682. The conservator – who was not a specialist painting conservator– cleaned the paint and removed and replaced old varnish but also undertook some repainting using water-based acrylic paints. The chancellor did not criticise the conservator but did criticise the Parochial Church Council for failing to have the coat of arms properly investigated and for failing to give the conservator clear instructions, for which no explanation had been given. Nevertheless, and with some hesitation, the petition was granted. [DW]