AN ENGLISHMAN’S home is his castle, or so the saying goes.

But for David Crabtree and partner Karen Leonard, their labourers’ cottage has gone one step further.

As workers knocked down a wall to begin building a two-storey extension, they uncovered large white stones in the rubble.

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

Mr Crabtree, 56, said: “We were just astonished at what we were discovering and how exquisite and beautiful the carvings were as it’s very high quality work.

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“The question is what was it doing buried in the walls of a labourers’ cottage.”

Former television journalist Mr Crabtree and his partner Ms Leonard, 51, from Chipping Norton, bought their cottage in Hanwell, near Banbury, last year.

Their new pile is just a stone’s throw from the historic Hanwell Castle, which dates to the 15th century.

Historians think 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.

Medieval specialist Dr Rowena E Archer, a fellow of Brasenose College, now lives in part of the castle.

Dr Archer said: “The sculpture of the full achievement of the royal arms of England, complete with the supporters of a lion and a griffin, or dragon, and the motto of the Order of the Garter, was probably a great overmantel above a chimney. It might possibly have been put up on the occasion of a visit to Hanwell by Henry VIII and Katherine Parr.”

She said the royal couple visited Woodstock in September 1543. “Certainly it would not have been far to go from Woodstock to Hanwell to visit and see the recently completed house.”

Mr Crabtree said: “It is possible that the coat of arms was hidden in the walls during the civil war period when Parliamentarian troops were billeted at Hanwell Castle.”

There are no documents to show when the cottage was built. The couple may now put the coat of arms up for auction.