The Agincourt Memorial at Groombridge
St John's Groombridge
The arms of Charles d'Orléans
The Waller crest
Juliet Barker in her book Agincourt gives several examples of knights who augmented their coats of arms to commemorate having taken part in the battle1. One of these was Richard Waller who, having captured Charles d'Orléans, added the duke's shield to the walnut tree on his crest. The duke spent part of his captivity at Groombridge in Kent, the home of the Waller family, where the family crest can be seen in a stained glass window in St John's Church (which is a chapel-of- ease and not the parish church).
The window contains the following arms and inscriptions:
Left: the arms of Charles d'Orléans
An Dni 1415
"
CHARLES DUKE OF ORLEANS
WHO DURING
HIS CAPTURE AT GROOMBRIDGE WAS A
BENEFACTOR
TO THE PARISH CHURCH"
Centre: the arms of John Packer
An Dni 1625
"TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND TO THE MEMORY OF JOHN PACKER OF GROOMBRIDGE PLACE ESQUIRE THE FOUNDER OF THIS CHAPEL"
Right: the arms of Sir Richard Waller
An Dni 1415
" SIR RICHARD WALLER KT OF GROOMBRIDGE BY WHOM CHARLES DUKE OF ORLEANS WAS RESCUED AT THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT"
Charles d'Orléans was to remain in captivity for 25 years. He was finally released in 1440 "speaking better English than French" according to one source.
Simon Leach
February 2009
1 Juliet Barker - Agincourt: The King, the Campaign, the Battle (Little, Brown 2005) p367
