A TUDOR coat of arms found in a cottage wall in Hanwell, near Banbury, is set to fetch thousands at auction next week.

The six-foot stone carving was discovered in March by David Crabtree and his partner Karen Leonard while renovating their labourers’ cottage.

Now the couple are putting the historical treasure up for auction at JS Fine Art in Oxford Road, Banbury, on Saturday, May 16.

Auctioneer Simon Davies estimated it could fetch up to £10,000 and said: “It could make a lot more than that because of its scarcity – it’s very rare.

“It was buried in the walls of a cottage about 800 yards from the 15th century Hanwell Castle site.”

Historians from Oxford University said the carvings date to the reign of Henry VIII or Elizabeth I, and suspect they were originally designed as a centrepiece for the great hall at Hanwell Castle.

It is thought they may have been made for a royal visit to the castle by Henry VIII himself with his sixth wife Katherine Parr. The royal couple visited Woodstock in September 1543 and are thought to have visited Hanwell Castle at the time.

Mr Davies said: “The coat of arms is about 75 per cent complete. We’ve put it in a frame here at the studio.

“These royal coats were symbols of status. People often had them above fireplaces and so on.

“They were a badge of recognition in support of royalty, saying you were in their corner.

“I think it had been buried during the Civil War because there were a lot of Parliamentary troops in Hanwell at the time.”

Mr Crabtree, 56, and Ms Leonard, 51, from Chipping Norton, bought the cottage last year.

The former television journalist, said: “We were putting an extension on the back of the cottage.

“When we pushed the kitchen wall down this big piece of carved stone fell out.

“It was all packed with mud around the detailed sections.

“As we took the plaster off around the house we discovered a number of these white pieces of stone that didn’t fit with the rest of the house.”

Once they put the 10 blocks together, the couple realised they had a royal coat of arms.

Mr Crabtree said: “We put it up for auction because we didn’t know what else to do with it.

“It’s really too big to keep in the house, we have literally nowhere to put it. It can’t be kept outside because it’s such soft stone.

“Hopefully a collector will buy it who can really look after it. We just want it to go to a good home.”

For more information, call the auctioneers on 01295 272488.