Nearly opposite St. Benet's Church, and entered through a courtyard, is the College of Arms, or Heralds' Office, the seat of the official authority in matters of armorial bearings and pedigrees, incorporated by charter from Richard III. (1484). The building (originally the town house of the Earls of Derby) was assigned to the college by Queen Mary I., but was remodelled in brick, probably by Wren, after its almost complete destruction in the Great Fire (1666). The central doorway leads into the Earl Marshal's Court, a fine panelled hall with a carved throne and other decorations, and hung with the coronation banners of the Kingdom and Empire. Visitors are usually admitted on application.
The office of Earl Marshal is hereditary in the person of the Duke of Norfolk. The corporation consists of three Kings of Arms (Garter, Clarenceux, and Norroy), six Heralds (Lancaster, York, Somerset, Chester, Richmond, and Windsor), and four Pursuivants (Portcullis, Rouge Dragon, Bluemantle, and Rouge Croix). The heralds derive their titles from various royal duchies held by the sovereigns who first created them; the pursuivants from royal badges, except Bluemantle, so styled from the blue mantle of the Order of the Garter.
The duties of the members of the College are concerned with the marshalling of state ceremonies, the granting of armorial bearings, the recording of pedigrees, and the like. Charles II., in his 'Declaration of the Authority of the Earl Marshal' (confirmed by order in Council January 22nd, 1674), described the Earl Marshal as 'the next and immediate officer under Us for determining and ordering all matters touching Arms, Ensigns of Nobility, and Chivalry,' and the officers of Arms as 'ministers subordinate to Our said Earl Marshal.'
The College contains the largest and most valuable genealogical and heraldic collection in the world. Chief among the ancient records is the series of Herald's Visitations, comprising the pedigrees and arms of the nobility and gentry from the time of Henry VIII. to the end of the 17th century, taken under royal commission. Of unrivalled importance, too, are the extensive collections of genealogical and heraldic material made by the earlier heralds. Among the modern records are the books containing the scrupulously tested pedigrees, with arms, of the nobility and gentry, which have been recorded since the discontinuance of the visitations. Among other valuable records may be mentioned the books of the pedigrees and arms of peers and baronets; funeral certificates; books containing accounts of royal marriages, coronations, and funerals; the so-called 'Earl Marshal's Books,' from the time of Queen Elizabeth, containing entries of such instruments and warrants under the royal sign manual as relate to the arms of the blood royal, the kingdom, and the colonies; licences from the Crown for change of name and arms; and finally the series of grants of armorial bearings down to the present day.
Among the chief objects of special historical and artistic interest owned by the College are the Warwick Roll, with fine pen-and-ink drawings, illustrating the history of the Earls of Warwick from the Conquest to the time of Richard III., by John Rous, chantry priest at Guy's Cliffe, near Warwick (end of 15th century); the Westminster Tournament Roll, the finest of all known tournament rolls; a volume containing a number of shields from a roll of arms of the early 13th century (the oldest roll extant); and a manuscript Ordinary of Arms of the Tudor period ('Prince Arthur's Manuscript').
