All Saints Hessle has recently had its Royal Coat of Arms from 1725 cleaned and restored by Critchlow and Kukkonen of Sheffield.
The conservator, Lucy Critchlow, said, "Examination of the painting under ultra-violet light shows that the painting has an old, thick layer of varnish covering the background areas. This varnish layer originally covered the whole painting, and was selectively removed from the main elements of the pictorial composition (probably in 1959); the whole painting was then revarnished.
"The second layer of varnish has now discoloured and yellowed. Numerous traces of the older varnish can be seen underlying the modern varnish in the cleaned areas, showing that the cleaning undertaken in 1959 was not particularly careful."
Churchwarden Eve Johansson said, "The coat of arms was dedicated by the vicar at a civic service this Sunday 15 March. We are particularly pleased with the result and think other churches will be, too."