Coats of Arms (WW1 Auxiliary Hospital?)

[arthurk]

On another forum, someone has been trying to identify the location of what seems to be a WW1 Auxiliary Hospital, but so far without any luck. The main identifying feature is an entrance porch with four coats of arms on it, and as there are some heraldry experts here, they've agreed that I can post the pictures here to see if anyone can help.

Below are pictures of the relevant bit of the porch, and the whole of the original photo. This shows servicemen in their hospital blues, and part of a 'Hospital' sign; this looks like a temporary addition to the building, so the coats of arms probably relate to whatever it was before the war.

In the next post I'll post close-ups of the four coats of arms.

For reference, here are a couple of links relating to Auxiliary Hospitals, but as there were over 3000 of them it's not really a case of working through a list until you spot it. (No doubt there are other sites too.)

https://vad.redcross.org.uk/medical-care-during-ww1/auxiliary-hospitals-during-the-first-world-war

https://wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/hospitals/

[arthurk]

The four shields from the porch:

[Kiltpin]

There is a lot of strange stuff going on with these shields.
I think that that whole entrance is wooden with glass panels, and that the shields are wooden as well. 
All 4 shields are of a different shield shape, which is in itself strange. When multiple shields are displayed, they usually have the same shape. 

A - Very early English shape, first designed in Dereham in Norfolk. The chevronells are not equidistant as they should be. That could be a Post Horn, or light cavalry horn in the base. A lot of extra studs for decoration. 

B - Shield is a European (possibly Germanic) shape. "Four crescents in cross horns outwards". This is possibly the most accurate of the 4 shields. 

C - A fanciful Romantic shield, again European. "A fret cloutee." That means it has nails. The fret is too low down the shield. It has been lowered to fit the shield shape. This is wrong. The cross in the middle of the fret should be in the middle of the shield. 

D - A fourth shield shape, later English. Two swords in saltire piercing something with a fifth shield (blank) overall in base. If at all possible, the fifth shield must be the same shape as the fourth shield that it is on and must be central. The fifth shield is of a design used for marital arms (man and wife together)(marital arms are not placed on another shield). 

All in all, I think that these shields were put together by a local craftsman who knew precious little about heraldry. I would not be surprised to learn that none were granted by either the College, or by Lyon Court. With the exception of B. It has a Scottish look about it. 

I will do more research. 

Regards 

Chas

[arthurk]

Thank you very much - I look forward to reading more, if you can find it.

I did wonder if there might be a masonic square and compass at the top of the fourth one, but it's very hard to make out, and I don't think I can get a better image.

[Kiltpin]

A thought has just struck me. That whole door structure does not match the rest of the architecture, which is quite plain. Who would build an entrance portico out of wood? I think it has a religious/ecclesiastical feel about it. Entrance to a vestry, maybe. But certainly an indoor structure. Ninian Comper and Pugin were at work around then. They spent a lot of time removing bits of church architecture and putting their new architecture in.
I think that, that portico came out of a church. 

Regards 

Chas

[Kiltpin]

Below are pictures of the relevant bit of the porch, and the whole of the original photo. This shows servicemen in their hospital blues, and part of a 'Hospital' sign; this looks like a temporary addition to the building, so the coats of arms probably relate to whatever it was before the war.

 

Sorry, arthurk. I only now re-read this. It is, as if they moved a bit of the inside, outside. 

I am finding nothing in The General Armoury, Papworth nor Fairbairn.

Regards

Chas

[arthurk]

I'd wondered if the original building might first have been repurposed as something like a masonic lodge, at which point the porch was added, with the shields. Then during the war it became an auxiliary hospital.

Meanwhile, the person on whose behalf I'm asking has done some more research. Apparently there's a family connection to Buxton, and someone on a Buxton Facebook page thought it might have been on Hardwick Mount, but has now been demolished. Presumably this one:

https://wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/hospitals/hospital.php?pid=14526

(Knowing what the climate can be like in Buxton, the porch might have been added by the original owners or occupants, once they realised how draughty the main front door was  )

[Nabean]

 The response I received from the College of Arms was very helpful. Like you, they felt that some, or all, of the shields did not represent officially recognised heraldry, however… shield C resembled in part the Arms of the Vernon family of Haddon Hall (Argent a Fret Sable).
With regard to demolished buildings in Buxton, which might have been used as Auxiliary Military Hospitals, ignoring the ‘porch’ on which the shields are, the building is not dissimilar to the Haddon Hall Hydro.
Another possibility is the Buxton Hydropathic Hotel, which served as the Granville Military Hospital during the First World War, with other hotels nearby acting as annexes.

[Ray T]

Interesting thought re. the “Vernon” and “Buxton” connections - SWMBO is descended from the Haddon Hall Vernons. The only problem I have with the Buxton connection is that the majority of buildings in the centre of the town are built in stone rather than brick.