The Wootton Helmet is a rare and important North European armet from ca. 1500.
In 2009 the church wardens from Wooton St. Lawrence in the diocese of Winchester decided to auction off the armet in order to raise money for the upkeep of the church.
The armet is a rare 15th-century Flemish helmet, which originally formed part of the marble monument of Sir Thomas Hooke Baronet, who died in 1677. Until 1969 the armet was hung from an ornate iron bracket above the monument together with a pair of gauntlets, spurs and a dagger. These items were stolen and the armet was afterwards placed in a bank vault until it was transferred to the Royal Armouries in 1975.
In 2010 the armet was sold at a public auction in London for the sum of £45.000 to an American collector. However the Church Buildings Council afterwards opposed the sale raising the point that the armet was part of a funeral monument and that any living heirs should have been consulted. Two such heirs were later located. However, both agreed to the sale – one for half the proceedings, the other negotiating a deal whereby the parish promised to restore the tomb of his ancestor. This ruling was later appealed by the CBS. Recently the CBC (Church Buildings Council) won this appeal in the court of Arches of Canterbury, arguing that the armet was “a national asset with historic links to the parish, and there was no proven financial case for its sale”. Little, if any, weight should be attached to the fact that it has been physically out of the church and parish for many years (exhibited first at the Tower and now at the Royal Armouries in Leeds). It is further suggested that a replica of the helmet is to be procured to hang above the monument in order to render a more faithful vision of the memorial as it was once experienced, after Louis-François Roubiliac (1702-62) carved the monument in 1750.
In general the decision of the court has been welcomed by CBC, who is adamantly against any sales; but also a long list of heritage institutions have voiced their satisfaction with the ruling, which de facto curbs the aspirations of local churches dreaming of selling the many treasures which are in their safekeeping.
RULING
In re St Lawrence, Wootton [2014] WLR (D) 176
DESCRIPTION
Description and photos of the Armet provided by Thomas del Mar (Auction House)
SOURCE
Parish is too well off to sell armour In: Church Times 17.04.2014