Shropshire military's guidon

  

In the Soldiers of Shropshire Museum, you’ll find this guidon (a kind of large military pennant), which outlines the battle honours of the Shropshire Yeomanry.  Although the regiment goes back to the 1790s, the first service overseas that its members saw came in 1900.  
Its service over the next 20 years was so distinguished that it needed a guidon just for the conflicts it had taken part in during the two decades!

What also interests us is the loggerheads in the guidon’s centre.  The Yeomanry had always used the loggerheads as its main symbol, but – up to this point – they had used the simple ‘Shrewsbury loggerheads’ design (see pic right).

But this guidon, created in the 1920s, shows an alternative loggerheads design.  The guidon actually shows the ‘Shropshire loggerheads’, i.e. the arms of the ceremonial county of Shropshire.

This change reflects an odd quarrel which had taken place in the 1890s.  In that decade, Shropshire County Council was formed; and, as expected, it took the Shrewsbury loggerheads for its symbol (by extension the Shrewsbury loggerheads had, for some 300 years, also been the symbol of Shropshire). 
However, the other boroughs of Shropshire were not happy about this – and forced a change.  When the county council applied for a set of arms, soon after its formation, it proposed and got a radical new variant of the loggerheads (which you can see in the guidon).  The story is told in the The Mysteries Of The Loggerheads book.
It seems that the Yeomanry fell in line with the change fairly quickly! 

Sadly, the Yeomanry do not exist any longer as such.

Incidentally, today (February 23rd) is officially ‘Shropshire Day’.

 

A new book has been published to celebrate 600 years of the loggerheads - click here to find out more.

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Rail poster is sealed

 

Posters from the 1930s that promoted Shrewsbury as a ‘destination town’ are fascinating; they seem to tell social historians so much about attitudes of the time.
For us though, the most interesting element of this poster is the way that the ancient and original town-seal (which dates to 1425) has pride of place on it (see full pic below). 

(The loggerheads first entered history when they appeared on this seal - although the details of what’s on the seal are too blurred on this poster, sadly, to allow one to see much of them).

Why the PR people of the time thought the town’s seal would grab the attention of potential tourists is difficult to fathom. Perhaps its presence on this poster does underline the town’s ‘historicity’ though.

Incidentally, the scene in the poster is real.  It shows the public gardens in front of Castle Gates House, from which one can go (through the arch) into the grounds of the castle (now a museum), with Laura’s Tower at the right. 

The style of poster was not unusual.  The major railway companies produced lots of these sorts of posters, all with a very similar design approach.  They were supposed to encourage people to take trips (on railways of course) to destination-towns such as York and Nottingham, and many more.  
One can almost date Shrewsbury’s mass-tourism profile from the era in which these posters started to appear.

 

A new book has been published to celebrate 600 years of the loggerheads - click here to find out more.

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Pigs wear gold & blue

 

There is tenuous evidence pointing to a high-level connection in the Middle Ages between Hereford and Shrewsbury. However, the evidence is circumstantial, nothing solid so far.  
(If anyone knows different, would they please email us?).

One pointer is the blue & gold/amber colouring which is seen in various heraldry of the two towns.  Admittedly, it’s not a colour combination that’s unique to these two towns, but it underwrites the supposed connection.  
The loggerheads emblem always comes in blue & gold/amber colouring, as does the symbol of Hereford Cathedral. 

One example of the colour pairing in Hereford is these pigs – which wear livery of blue and yellow bends. They are seen on the tomb of John Swinfield (died 1311) in Hereford Cathedral.

 

A new book has now been published to celebrate 600 years of the loggerheads - click here to find out more.

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Not a cathedral

 

Lovers of Shrewsbury history are looking forward to a talk which is due to take place this March (2026).  It will concern itself with the continuing story of why Shrewsbury Abbey has never been granted cathedral status.  It is an odd state of affairs - because, really, a town of Shrewsbury’s ancient reputation and situation would normally be considered right in line for a CofE cathedral.
In fact, there is a famous story (which admittedly, has never really been properly authenticated) that Henry VIII did consider granting cathedral status to the town – but the leading citizens turned the offer down!  This story, and its outcome, are recounted in the new book ‘The Mysteries Of The Shrewsbury Loggerheads’.  

However, the talk this March looks at another time when cathedral status was being seriously considered for Shrewsbury – the 1920s.  So, if you want to know why this move came to nothing… well, you’ll have to get a ticket for the talk! For all details about the talk and how to get a free entry ticket - click here.

If you do go along, you'll probably see a number of venerable loggerheads-sets dotted about the building - the Abbey's copy of the 1425 Shrewsbury Seal is just one of them.

A new book has now been published to celebrate 600 years of the loggerheads - click here to find out more.

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Fill yer stockings!

 

If you’re looking for stocking-fillers this Christmas, look no further.  Any Shropshire person will enjoy receiving the book of The Mysteries of The Loggerheads (£7.99) or the Loggerheads Lapel-Pin (£1.50) or the Shrewsbury-Loggerheads Trail (£2) - or all three!

The Mysteries of The Loggerheads surveys the 600-year story of the loggerheads in a fun way, and would suit anyone who likes local history, whether they are from Shropshire or not. 

And… as these items were only produced this year, you can be assured that no one has had these gifts as Christmas presents before!  
Just right to make a Salopian’s heart glow.

All available at the Shrewsbury Museum shop as well as other outlets. 

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Bridge in loggerheads colours

We talk a lot on this blog about the blue-gold colouring of the loggerheads’ design – gold for the leopards' faces, blue for the background. It has been a constant feature of the emblem all down the centuries.
So it is natural that Shrewsbury Town Council, the direct ‘descendants’ of the original Shrewsbury Corporation, which first created and adopted the loggerheads, should also sport blue-gold as their colours. By extension, anything that wants to feel ‘Shrewsbury’, should also come in that combination.

This explains the slightly garish painting on the railings of this pedestrian bridge in Shrewsbury which crosses the Rea Brook stream into Meole Brace village. The decorative colour-work, which has just appeared - in time for the loggerheads' 600th anniversary year -, tells us that this is the work of an organisation, Shrewsbury Town Council, that is proud to demonstrate the traditional blue-gold of Shrewsbury.

Actually, it's doubly clever to have painted this bridge in blue-gold. This bridge is on the route that Shrewsbury Town Football Club supporters use when they want to walk back into town from the club's stadium. 
And the colours of Shrewsbury Town Football Club are... of course... gold and blue!

A new book has now been published to celebrate 600 years of the loggerheads - click here to find out more.

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Sabrina's birthday wishes

 

Over the last couple of years, the Shrewsbury improvement group, BID, has been commissioning artists to paint bollards and telecom-cabinets across the town.  It’s a novel way of beautifying the urban environment.

In this year 2025, there had of course to be pieces remembering the 600th-birthday of the loggerheads (see SNIDs’ bollard for an example).  
One of the most charming of them is the one shown here, located near English Bridge. It shows Sabrina, the patronal goddess of the town, holding the emblem. There’s an air of Botticelli about it; and it quite raises the spirits when one walks past it, even if the loggerheads themselves look strangely thoughtful!   
Katherine Morris is the artist.  

A new book has now been published to celebrate 600 years of the loggerheads - click here to find out more.

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