IN Yesterday Once More last week we carried several photographs of the temporary exhibition hall built in the grounds of what was to become Bootham Park Hospital for the First Yorkshire Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition in 1866 - Yorkshire's answer to London's 1851 Great Exhibition.

One of the photographs was a fine view of the pavilion from the outside, showing a horse and carriage drawn up before the entrance.

But what, we asked readers, were all the shields displayed on the front of the building?

Reader and local historian Peter Stanhope has been investigating. And - as all good local historians do - he turned first to the work of the late and much-missed York historian Hugh Murray.

There, on page 111 of Hugh's book 'Photographs and Photographers of York - Early Years, 1844-1879', Peter found a copy of the same photograph, together with a description.

The pavilion, Hugh wrote, was "an ornate but temporary building designed by Edward Taylor in consultation with J.B. & W. Atkinson, in the grounds of Bootham Park Hospital. It was constructed entirely of timber and glass and the front was decorated with the Royal Arms, the arms of the City of York and St. Peter and also the arms of the noble patrons."

These 'noble patrons', Peter says, were presumably the local worthies who sponsored the exhibition.

So there you have it. The shields themselves - or 'armorial crests' - were made by Mr. T. Worthington of Blake Street, York, Peter adds. Mr Worthington also painted and decorated the exterior and interior of the Exhibition Hall.

Many thanks, Peter.