A unique Royal coat of arms, believed to have been hand-carved by the world-renowned Charles Spooner of fairground ride makers Orton and Spooner about 120 years ago, has been rediscovered in the hometown of the Victorian entrepreneurs.

Made entirely from wood, the large coat of arms features a lion and a unicorn. It is believed to be the same one that was photographed on the front of Worthington House on High Street, Burton upon Trent in 1902 at the time of the Coronation of King Edward VII, Queen Victoria’s son.

A smaller wooden coat of arms of a similar age and two castings, probably from the mid-20^th century, were found with it.

Councillor Paul Walker, Chairman of Burton Constituency Labour Party and Cabinet member for Culture and Tourism, said: “The carvings are in remarkably good condition. We will be ensuring that they are cleaned up, restored where necessary and safely displayed to residents and visitors.”

After hearing that the carvings were in a storage area at a council-owned building, Councillor Walker alerted Chief Executive Andy O’Brien who organised for an expert valuer to travel to Burton from London to inspect the finds.

Councillor Walker explained: “It is essential that they are properly insured and protected for future generations and that meant we had to confirm what local history experts told us about them and get an official valuation. To us they are priceless.”

George Orton and Charles Spooner had separate businesses in the town but worked together from 1894 onwards making ornate living wagons for show families, show fronts for travelling fairs and circuses and innovative fairground rides. They also accepted commissions from businesses and local councils to create items such as these coats of arms.

The large coat of arms was also photographed at Burton Town Hall in 1953 when its paintwork was being retouched before it was displayed to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. The man photographed doing that work was Albert Howell (below), who had moved from Bristol to Burton to work with George Orton in 1912 as a scenic artist. Albert was later joined at Orton and Spooner by his son Sid who became head designer at the company in the 1930s.

Sid’s daughter-in-law, Paula Howell, and her daughter Cath, who still live in Burton, are delighted that a historic piece of art worked on by their relative has been found. Cath said: “We’ve always loved the photograph of my great grandfather working on the coat of arms.”

Paula added: “It’s a tribute to his skills that the paintwork has lasted so well for almost 70 years.”

Author and fairground heritage expert John Barker, from Buckinghamshire, said: “This discovery of what I have no doubt are Spooner carvings in Orton and Spooner’s hometown is enormously significant. It’s historically important and I believe that Orton and Spooner fans will want to see them and admire the artistry.”

The council will now be developing plans for a future exhibition to showcase the discoveries and share more items and artefacts that tell the remarkable Orton and Spooner story.

Last year, artist Tilly Bancroft organised a sculpture trail called The Big Burton Carousel to pay tribute to Orton and Spooner’s work in the town and writer Elaine Pritchard published a book called ‘Labour of Love – The Orton and Spooner Story’. This included many photographs lent by the Howell Family, John Barker, the National Fairground and Circus Archive and the former National Brewery Centre archives.

Elaine said: “Orton and Spooner were pioneers and entrepreneurs who developed new pre-fabrication techniques and innovative marketing methods. They also formed a cinema company and at one time ran three cinemas in town and brought the first talking picture to Burton. They employed a skilled workforce and put Burton on the map as a centre of artistic, creative and engineering excellence. It will be so thrilling for some of their original work to be on show again in their hometown as most surviving pieces are now in the hands of private collectors across the world.”