The pedigree chart measures 15 feet x 4 feet-2 inches, and to it has been added in the 19th century, probably in the 1830s, another 5 feet. Presumably it hung originally at the Darell family seat of Calehill, Little Chart, but it is now rolled-up on the shelves of the Kent archives at Maidstone, under reference U386 F1. 

From its pristine condition, it has been well cared for over the 350 or so years it has existed, but because of its great length, can now be examined in sections by rolling-up one end and unrolling the other to reveal a few feet at a time. 

The pedigree was prepared for Sir Robert Darell by the College of Arms, and is signed by his relation Sir Henry St. George, who was then Norroy King of Arms and was to become Garter King of Arms. Sir Henry's descendants include the Tucker's of Bermuda and America who had Darell forebears, and his wife was a Dayrell of the Buckinghamshire line.

The roll is headed:

"A Genealogicall Discripsion of the Auncient Worthy and Numerus Family of the Darells. Shewing their Origenall from the Auntient Knightly famyly of Darell of Sesay in the County of Yorke. Delineating the Severall Branches that have issued from them with there Severall Alliances and Marrieages. Deduced downe to the person of the Right Worshipfull Sir Robert Darell of Calehill of Kente Knight. Collected out of Severall Records of the Kingdom the privat Evidences of the said family & other Venerable proofes & Monumentes of Antiquitie in yeare of Grace 1637."

The genealogical information is presented with names and particulars of individuals encircled within a blue line. The names have been Latinised, which generally simply involved adding "us" for the masculine, or "a" for the feminine, e.g., Ricardus/Richard, Jana/Jane. Some are not so obvious, such as Xtopherus/Christopher, Jacobus/James. Descriptions are also in Latin, but are generally not difficult to translate with a minimal acquaintance with the language.

The respective circles for a man and his wife are joined with parallel red lines to denote the marriage. From these lines is drawn a vertical line leading to the coat of arms of the couple. When the lady was herself armigerous, i.e., entitled to a coat of arms, the arms of the husband are on the left-facing, or dexter side, 'impaling' those of his wife on the sinister. When the armiger was unmarried, the coat of arms occupied the whole of the shield. When one of the spouses was not armigerous, or known when the pedigree was prepared, that half of the shield was left blank.

The majority of the shields have the arms of Darell, i.e., a golden lion rampant with a silver crown on an azure field.

Some of the later coats of arms have cadency marks to denote the seniority of the armiger within the family. A sophisticated sequence of such marks evolved as part of the rules of heraldry, but the early Darells had a system of their own when the Calehill and Littlecote lines separated from that of Sessay. Calehill had a trefoil on the shoulder of the lion, while Littlecote had a cross crosslet, i.e., a cross with a secondary cross on each of its four parts. Calehill became the senior line when Sessay ceased to be owned, and the trefoil was then discontinued.

From the shield there is, where appropriate, a vertical line to the circle which encloses the name of their child, or to a horizontal line from which hang the circles with the names of their children, if more than one. These become somewhat confusing to follow when the family is large and lines cross those of other families. The whole document is so beautifully executed, however, that with care there is no difficulty in following the many lines.

The pedigree starts at the top with three families headed 'Nevill & Walrand', 'Darell de Sassay', and 'Plantagenet'.

On the left at the top is depicted 'Walter de Nevill of Scotton in the countie of Lyncoine who was with Kig Richard the First when he subdued the Ile of Cypris at the Conquest of Acon'. He wears armour comprising a helmet, gauntlets and leg covering, over which is a tunic in the livery of his coat of arms. He holds the hilt of his long-sword with his left hand, and with his right holds the staff of a banner which displays his coat of arms, and a leafy decoration in blue. He has a moustache.

In the middle of the pedigree is depicted 'William Darell Lord of the Manor of Sesay in the countie of Yorke in the reign of King John'. He too is in armour covering him from head to foot. He wears over it a plain grey cloak lined with white, which is open to show his right leg. Around his right shoulder is the strap which secures his long-sword in its scabbard on his left side, and he is carrying on his left arm a shield which is the same as his coat of arms. His right hand holds the staff of a banner which repeats the motif of the shield. He, too, has a moustache.

On the top right of the pedigree is depicted 'Henry the Second, Kinge of England, sonn of Geffrie Plantagenet, Earle of Aniou and Mauld the Empress Daughter of King Henry the First'. He wears the crown of England and has light coloured hair, moustache and beard. Over his shoulders is draped a scarlet robe edged with ermine. He wears a cloth of gold tunic over his armour, and a gold chain around his neck. From a thin girdle around his waist hangs the strap which supports the scabbard of his sword. The sword is raised in his right gaunteletted hand, and his left holds aloft his red shield on which are two lions passant—the royal arms—to which a third lion was added for King John, which continued in the present-day royal arms of England. He wears gold coloured calf-length boots over his leg armour. 

Besides Nevill and Plantagenet, other feudal families provided progenitors whose descendants later were to merge with the Darell family. There are four head and shoulder paintings of men wearing helmets, and tunics, in the livery of their coats of arms. They are respectively from left to right: Calston, Lorty, Combe, and Loundres. Beneath the paintings in their oval frames are personal details of each.

On the left-hand side of this part of the pedigree are paintings of six coats of arms copied from parts of the stained glass windows of the church of Little Chart. Four of them are shields on which the arms of Darell impale those of Loundres, St. Martin, Combe, and Lorty. The other two are more elaborate. One has the shield of Darell alone, while the other has Darell impaling Calston. Both shields are tilted at an angle, and over each is the crest of Darell—a helmet with mantling, above which is a ducal coronet, surmounted by a saracen's head. A ducal coronet does not indicate status and is otherwise called a crest coronet; a gold coronet on the rim of which are four strawberry leaves, of which one and two halves are visible.

Down the right-hand side of the pedigree are paintings of seven monuments in the church of Little Chart, which require a separate article to do them justice. Two are memorial brasses which were set in marble in the floor of the church, but which have long since disappeared, and the paintings may be the only surviving record of their appearance. One was that of John Darell who purchased Calehill in 1410, with his wife. The other was that of John's son by his first wife—William Darell and his wife.

There is a painting of the alabaster effigy of John Darell, John's grandson, who has a helmet, ducal coronet and Saracen's head as a pillow, and at his feet a crowned lion and a sleeping monk—a bedesman to pray for his soul. Sir John is lying in armour, with a short as well as a long-sword, and wears a gold collar of SS.

There are paintings of four wall monuments in each of which the husband and wife kneel in prayer on either side of a lectern on a small altar. The last of these commemorates Sir Robert Darell for whom the pedigree was prepared, and must have been painted on the document after his death. There are nine children knelling at the foot of the monument. These were destroyed when the church was struck by a flying-bomb in 1944, but surviving fragments from the memorials of Sir John and Sir Robert have been incorporated in the new church.

Interspersed throughout the pedigree are paintings of legal documents, letters, etc., with their seals, some of which reproduce the writing and signatures on the originals. The letters include one from the young king Edward VI under the signature of Lord Protector Somerset; both Darell descendants. Others are from Henry VIII and Elizabeth I to various members of the family.

Finally, there are a number of notes explaining the family traditions, e.g., the origin of the Saracen's head as part of the crest, the family motto WRETT OT WOY, the knighting of Sir William Darell of Brodsworth, etc. (The pedigree states that the ancient family motto WRETT OT WOY was shown in the glass window of the ancient house at Sessay. It could, of course, be viewed from either side, which may account for the reversal and jumble of letters, which are now taken to be TRUE TO YOU.)

The main interest and purpose of the pedigree is, of course, the various names and coats of arms of the Darells from about 1200 to 1637. There are 21 lines with up to 20 coats of arms per line, each shield generally representing 2 individuals—husband and wife. These will no doubt form the basis for future studies, and an understanding of the roots of present-day descendants worldwide.

A system of cross-referencing of documents and monuments using letters and numbers in the pedigree, facilitates the identification of the person to who they relate.

At the bottom of the pedigree are seven splendid coats of arms which have the arms of forebears of the various lines of Darells, incorporated in a series of 'quarterings'. They are the arms of Darell of Sessay, Scotney, Littlecote, Calehill, Fulmer, Pagnam and West Woodhey.

Above these seven arms, which have elaborate crests and mantling, are two more which relate to Sir Robert. On the left are the arms of Darell of Calehill impaling Payton, his first marriage, and on the right, Darell of Calehill impaling Toldervey, his second. They each have crests over the dexter and sinister sides.

The five feet of the pedigree chart that was added about 1830, takes the Calehill line down to about that date, and the coats of arms and particulars are painted in the style of the original roll. The colours throughout the document are brilliant, and gold leaf has been used extensively.