TAPESTRIES made for the coronation of a French king who fled to England to escape the guillotine have been discovered by a Dorchester auctioneer.

The tapestries - worth £40,000 - were found by Guy Schwinge, of Duke's Auctioneers, in a modest home in Devon.

The 19th Century relics were bought by the owner in the 1960s, who also unearthed the matching pelmets while shopping in London in twenty years later.

The tapestries were made for King Louis Philippe I for his coronation in 1830. He was in power for 17 years but was forced to abdicate due to pressure from Napoleonic officials in the wake of the second French Revolution. 

Fearful he would be executed, he disguised himself and fled with his family to England where Queen Victoria let him stay at Claremont, a magnificent Palladian mansion in Esher, Surrey. 

At this point the bed hangings, runners, pelmets and headboard which have the King's initials sewn in, made their way across the English Channel. 

The ousted monarch lived at Claremont in exile for three years before dying in 1850. 

A spokesman from Duke's said: "These 19th century relics were identified while on a visit to a modest house in north Devon.

"The way in which they found their way there provides a fascinating insight into the tumultuous times in Europe following the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

"While the entire history is unknown the elderly owner acquired the majority of the tapestry hangings almost 50 years ago and then, by chance, in 1981 he found three matching pelmets for sale in a shop in London."

The brightly coloured tapestries were made at Gobelins Manufactory in Paris. They are decorated with birds, scrolls and fruit while the headboard is dominated by the King's initials and a crown.

They will be sold at Duke's on Friday.