Shropshire earl's leopards

 
The Newports were an ancient Shropshire family which made it into the peerage when Francis Newport became Viscount Newport in 1675.  He then progressed upwards to be created Earl of Bradford (his esatte in mid-Shropshire) in 1694. His son later acquired Weston Park in the east of the county.

What's fascinating about the Earl's shield of arms is that it specifically references leopards. The spotted fur of leopards is quite clear in this device.   That's an important detail, because there's always been an argument over whether the loggerheads are in fact lions, though many heraldic experts down the years have actually identified the figures as leopards. 
Obviously, Francis plumped for leopards...

These leopards are not standard loggerheads. Standard loggerheads would be in blue & gold, and show no chevron - but neverthelss the earl's arms' configuration is related to them.

(Detail taken from the contemporary 'Hundreds in Shropshire' map by R Blome, which was dedicated to the first Earl)

+

To comment on this post, just use the Comments field down this page or email us direct.

To get an email alert into your inbox every time we make a new post (about once a week), just click 'Subscribe & Follow' (at the top of the column to the right on this page) and just fill in the form

Shrewsbury's Welsh newspaper

 
The ‘Welsh Bridge Collectibles’ shop in Shrewsbury is a joy for any antiquarian.  Over three floors of a very old building, it has anything a collector of curios might want, from old books (of course) to toys of the past to figurines.  The best thing is that it’s properly arranged – no rooting about in disorderly & dusty junk!

In the old newspapers section, I found this Salopian Journal from 1837.  Like a number of Shrewsbury-based newspapers of the time, it carries the loggerheads on its masthead.  What’s very interesting is the newspaper’s description of itself – as the 'Courier Of Wales' (see pic right).  What we modern Salopians forget is that, until the middle of the nineteenth century, Shrewsbury’s area of interest outside the town was not the English West Midlands, but the North Wales region: thus, at this time, the town still had a very Welsh feeling.

+

To comment on this post, just use the Comments field down this page or email us direct.

To get an email alert into your inbox every time we make a new post (about once a week), just click 'Subscribe & Follow' (at the top of the column to the right on this page) and just fill in the form

Design in stained-glass

 
It’s a shame that Shrewsbury's St Julian’s Church is now ‘redundant’ and so is closed nearly all of the time. It has a lot of lovely heraldic and decorative stained-glass among its features.
Fortunately, it was acquired by a man who has decided to keep the building as it is; and so it is still used at least a little, by a group that gathers for prayer and by the Greek Orthodox community.

In the mid-nineteenth century, David Evans was the go-to craftsman for stained-glass in Shrewsbury (and Shropshire).  His bright colours and design are actually quite special; and it’s believed that these loggerheads, in a window of the north side of the nave, are probably by him. Wh they are there... is anybod's guess.

If you want to know more about David Evans, one authority is Robert Walker and it’s worth checking to find out if he has any talks coming up.

+

To comment on this post, just use the Comments field down this page or email us direct.

To get an email alert into your inbox every time we make a new post (about once a week), just click 'Subscribe & Follow' (at the top of the column to the right on this page) and just fill in the form