Hatchments, Heraldry and the Arms of the Montgomeryshire Gentry
Powysland Club Open Day and Lecture
We are pleased to share details of this upcoming event organised by our friends the Powysland Club.
The Powysland Club’s opening lecture for the 2025-26 season will take place in the Assembly Room at Welshpool Town Hall on Saturday, 11 October 2025 at 3pm. The guest speaker will be Thomas Lloyd, Wales Herald Extraordinary and one of the country’s leading experts on heraldry and hatchments, with a lecture entitled 'Hatchments, Heraldry and the Arms of the Montgomeryshire Gentry'.
The Town Hall will be open from 1pm on the day, to give visitors an opportunity to inspect the collection of Hatchments relating to Montgomeryshire families in the care of the Powysland Club, which are mounted for permanent display in the Court Room. There will also be an opportunity to explore other historic rooms in the Town Hall, including the Council Chamber.
A hatchment was a diamond-shaped panel of wood or canvas within a frame, painted with the heraldic arms of a recently deceased member of the gentry or aristocracy. Hatchments are believed to have been displayed on the funeral cortège and remained in the church after the interment. Across the UK, the earliest examples of hatchments date from the second quarter of the seventeenth century, but those in this collection appear to be of the nineteenth century. In 1988, it was calculated that there were 135 hatchments in Wales, so evidently the Powysland Club holds 10% of the total number in the country. This collection constitutes a unique part of Montgomeryshire’s cultural heritage.
Key Times and Registration:
1pm: Town Hall opens for visitors to inspect the hatchments in the Court Room.
3pm: Thomas Lloyd's lecture in the Assembly Room begins.
Powysland Club anticipate considerable interest in this event, so if you would like to attend please contact the Programme Secretary Dr Mary Oldham using the details provided. Admission is free.
