The Thurnham Hall Crest

The Thurnham Crest and Shield

A tradition says that three brothers, sons of John Dalton, went to the Crusades in the late 1100's.

One of them, Sir Richard Dalton, killed a Saracen in the Holy Land and was given the green Griffen on the crest of the coat of arms which the family carried for their services to King Richard.

The description of the shield is: a silver Lion Rampant Guardant on an azure shield with gold crosslets. In the Heraldic language it is: a shield azure propre, or crussely, a lion, rampant, guardant, argant and the crest is a dragon's head vert, between two wings.

The image shown here is the stained glass window in the great hall. It clearly shows the features of the crest, incorporating the shield.