Royal arms is restored to its former glory

A royal coat of arms on an historic building in Boston has been returned to its former glory following six months of restoration work.

The piece of heraldry over the entrance to Custom House, in South Street, is once again showing its true colours following the half-year makeover.

The building, currently home to Little Lions Nursery, is owned by S. G. Properties, of Nelson Way, Boston.

A figure of about £1,500 was spent on the restoration, none of which came from outside funding.

“It was very faded,” said Shane Gray, owner of the business, on how the royal arms had become. “It was a nice thing, but you could nearly walk past it because it was in such poor repair.”

In addition to it being faded, the once golden lion had been painted black.

Mr Gray said one of the factors which inspired the makeover was the restoration work currently taking place to shop fronts in and around Boston’s Market Place. The Butterfly Hospice Trust’s store and the unit formerly occupied by The Edinburgh Woollen Mill are among those to be transformed in such a way recently.

Mr Gray said: “Boston does get a lot of bad press, but there are some lovely buildings in Boston – a lot of the buildings are gradually getting tidied up.”

Custom House is a Grade II listed building, dating from 1725. Mr Gray was told during the course of the restoration work, the royal arms is itself more than 200 years old.

The project also revealed a surprise in terms of the royal arms’ composition.

“We didn’t realise until we got it down it was cast iron. We thought it was plaster, part wood, part iron, but its solid cast iron,” Mr Gray said.

Since its return, the piece have been proving a hit with the public, as Mr Gray explained: “People have just been pulling up and taking pictures of it and looking.”

Related topics: