THE OLD - Old Wirral.com

THE OLD CHURCHES OF WIRRAL
Congreve family at Burton, are treasured
as valuable historical relics, but there
appears to have been no obligation on the
part of the Incumbents either to consent
to the erection of such hatchments, or to
permit them to remain where they were
originally placed, and in some churches
they have been relegated to the choir
vestry or even to the coal house or rubbish
heap, though such contumely as the latter
does not seem to have overtaken any of
the Wirral hatchments that exist to-day.
Nevertheless, those at Stoak and Backford,
which are the finest in Wirral, had a
narrow escape from absolute destruction.
They were painted by members of the
Holme family of Chester, who were renowned
for their skill in the execution of
heraldic work. Three of the family all
bearing the name of Randle were specially
distinguished. Randle Holme, the first
(c. 1571-1655), was Deputy to the College
of Arms, and was Mayor of Chester in
1633, while his son Randle Holme, the
second (1601-1659), was Mayor of Chester
in 1643. His son, Randle Holme, the
third (1627-1704), was the author of a
large heraldic work now very rare, entitled
" An Academic of Armoury, or a Store
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