‘God Save the King’ sign will not be restored on Stratford Town Hall
GOD Save the King won’t be re-painted on the side of Stratford Town Hall for the time being.
The faded words, as pictured right, are only just about visible on the Church Street side of the historic building and some residents have queried if there are plans to give them a lick of paint so they can be seen more clearly now that Britain has a king as monarch.
But that doesn’t appear to be the case. A Stratford Town Council spokesperson said: “Back in 2022 an initial conversation occurred with the architect, who was responsible for the recent renovations which included preservation of the inscription at the town hall, and a conservation expert. Both confirmed that, in their opinion, it would be harmful to the significance of the sign and building to have the inscription re-painted. The town council considered the above and agreed that the inscription be kept in its existing state but reviewed over time.”
If there was a decision to progress the re-painting of the inscription, listed building consent would be required and if secured there would be scaffolding and traffic management which would need to be in place to complete the work and this also would create costs – the spokesperson added.
Former Stratford mayor Charles Bates likes the idea of a re-paint.“I believe that this would be a good time to do so, as it would be appropriate at this time due to King Charles’s health problems, and it’s highly likely that there will be two more kings to follow on,” he said. “It obviously wouldn’t have been appropriate to have done anything when we had the Queen on the throne.”