The most famous story of the Giffard family of Chillington Hall seems a little underwhelming compared to some of the affairs that the Giffards have gotten up to. It is that: one of them shot a wild animal. Hmm.
Nevertheless, the story (legend?) is so important that it informs the family coat of arms.
There are a number of variations on the 500-year-old story, but basically it seems that Sir John Giffard had a menagerie from which a panther escaped. From some distance away, Sir John saw the animal as it was about to savage a mother & child. Sir John shot it with an arrow; and prevented a tragedy.
As you can imagine, the story has been knocked about a bit. Reputable sources say both panther and leopard, crossbow and bow & arrow, that Sir John was in pursuit or in the hall, and that the distance of the shot was up to … one mile!
But, good stories should never be over-examined.
Thus, at Chillington Hall, you will see many references to this feat – including this detail on some rather lovely plasterwork.
