Heralds’ Collegedetails

There is nothing worthy of much in the edifice itself, which is composed of brick, and has a rather gloomy appearance.

Passing through the gateway upon St. Benet’s Hill, the hollow arch of which is esteemed a curiosity, you find yourself in a square paved court-yard, on the north side of which is the principal entrance, approached by a flight of stone steps, and opening directly into the Grand Hall, in which the Court of Chivalry was formerly held. On the right hand is the old library, from which a door opens into the new fire-proof room aforesaid. On the left, a broad staircase conducts you to the apartments of several of the Officers of Arms. In the Grand Hall above-mentioned, and facing the entrance, is the judicial seat of the Earl Marshal, surrounded by a ballustrade: but “the chair is empty, and the sword unswayed.”

The Court of Chivalry is numbered amongst the things that were, and “le nouveau riche” may now sport his carriage emblazoned all over with the bearings of half the noble families of England, without the fear of the Earl Marshal before his eyes, or of the degrading process of having his unjustly assumed lions or wyverns publicly painted out by some indignant herald. On the south side of the quadrangle is a paved terrace, on the wall of which are seen two escutcheons, one bearing the arms (and legs) of Man, and the other the Eagle’s claw, both ensigns of the House of Stanley. They have been supposed to be relics of the original mansion: but are not ancient, and have been put up merely to mark the site of Old Derby House.

(pp. 82 – 83)