OXFORD historian Professor Clive Holmes's interest in heraldry has led him to the beautiful rural church of St Mary the Virgin in Bromesberrow Heath to view the two civil war banners held in the Yate Chapel.

The flags have been the property of the church for hundreds of years having been repaired by specialist in carpentry and needlecraft and are now installed with a specially made cabinet.

Professor Holmes said he had wanted to see the civil war flags as part of his research for an article that will feature in a journal when it is published at Oxford University. He remarked: "These two banners are quite extraordinary, one is royalist and the other parliamentarian. It is unique to have two flags dating back to 1643 and these were owned by Colonel Rice Yate, a young royalist officer who captured the red parliamentarian standard and kept it alongside his own white royalist banner, and also they are the finest example in the whole of England". Former church wardens, Nick Winter and Jan long gave the delighted guests a guided tour of the church and provided documents and other items giving the full history of the two standards.