HARNESS PENDANT

Arms: Gatton, de or Warenne, de

There appear to be microscopic traces of dark blue in some surface pits, suggesting that the original tinctures were "chequy a metal and azure". Depending on whether the metal was gold or silver, the arms represented may have been those of Gatton or Warenne. Both Hamo de Gatton senior, and his supposed son, Hamo junior, used chequy argent and azure as their arms. Hamo senior, of Gatton in Surrey, served as sheriff of Kent in 1286; he was summoned to serve against the Welsh in 1277 and 1282, dying in 1292. Hamo junior was summoned to serve against the Scots in 1298, and died two years later, leaving a minor, Edmund, as his heir. The second, and perhaps most likely, possibility for the owners of these arms are the Warenne earls of Surrey who used chequy or and azure. The Warennes were arguably the wealthiest landowners in England in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries; their arms are thought to be some of the oldest known. The family's stature and wealth derived, to some degree, from their royal ancestry via one of Geoffrey of Anjou's illegitimate sons; Geoffrey was the father of Henry II, the founder of the Plantagenet dynasty. The Warennes' royal links were reinforced by the marriage of John de Warenne with Alice de Luisgnan, Henry III's half sister. John de Warenne generally served Edward I well: he was summoned to serve against the Welsh in 1277 and 1294, and against the Scots in 1291, 1297 and 1300, becoming 'Keeper of Scotland' in 1291. Warenne died in 1304, leaving a grandson, also John, as his heir.