Thinking about Salop’s Loggerheads: A BOOK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE LOGGERHEADS; A TOWN TRAIL; EVENTS ; AND MORE!

The LOGGERHEADS 2025 PROJECT is celebrating the 600th anniversary of the loggerheads.
The loggerheads first appeared in history on the Shrewsbury Common Seal which was created in 1425.

The first-ever book about the history & story of the Shrewsbury loggerheads - 'The Mysteries of The Loggerheads' - was published this year (2025). For details, see below.

To coincide, a walking trail of loggerheads sites in the town will also be on sale.
And, looking forward, there will be special events in summer 2025.

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Book

'The Mysteries of The Loggerheads', price £7.99, is now on sale.
Written by local historian Mark Stewart, it tells the 600-year long history and strange stories of these much-loved emblems of the town of Shrewsbury - from the Middle Ages to the present-day.
A number of footnotes for the book can be seen further down this page.

In Shrewsbury, the book is on sale at The Bear Steps Gallery, Pengwern Books and Second Chapter Antiquarian Books. (For full details about these shops, see further down page). It is also available online.
If you find difficulties getting hold of a copy, please email us

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Town-Trail

A town walking-trail has been published for the project. Purchasers are encouraged to visit thirty-five locations in Shrewsbury 'old town', each being the site of a curious or fascinating (or both!) set of loggerheads.
Priced £2, it is on sale at the Bear Steps Gallery in the centre of town.

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Events
'Loggerheads Day' is held annually on May 2nd, around which there are a number of celebratory events.
Keep returning to this page as we update the details.

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Got A Question? Just use the Comments field (at the bottom of this page), or email us direct.

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On Sale
In Shrewsbury, the book is on sale at three shops: all are located inside Shrewsbury Old Town.
It is also available online at '0115SF Love Books'.

The shop at the wonderful, free, 800 year-old 'Bear Steps' Gallery is open six days a week, Monday to Saturday, 10am-4pm, tel 01743 344994. It is situated just off Butcher's Row, in St Alkmund's Place SY1 1UJ (the code on 'What 3 Words' is bolt.light.quench)

Pengwern Books is Shrewsbury's leading independent book-seller. The shop is open five days a week, Tuesday to Saturday, open 10.30am-4pm, tel 01743 232236. It is situated in the old cobbled lane of Fish Street SY1 1UR (the code in 'What 3 Words' is canny.wake.cheer) near the centre of town. To make sure a copy will be available, you can reserve the book (payments can be in advance over the phone) and then pick it up when you call in OR use the mail-order service (email pengwernbooks@live.co.uk for details).

Second Chapter the town's leading antiquarian bookshop, specialises in historical works. It is situated on the lower floor of the Parade Centre (19 St Mary's Pl, SY1 1DL), open Tuesday to Saturday 9.30-5pm, tel 01743 235151. Email is n.robinson203@btinternet.com

Online sales are through 0115SF Love Books, which has its own eBay store. It has a 100% record with its buyers. All postage from them is done through tracked mail, and in secure, rigid packaging. Click here to access The Mysteries of The Loggerheads sale page
For international sales, please email us.

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Book background notes

Some footnotes, by page number, for the book The Mysteries Of The Loggerheads : -

2 Although the three-leopards/loggerheads originated in the town’s shield of arms, most representations of them today have little to do with officialdom. They are instead an affectionate expression of citizens’ pride in the town
4 cf A Book Of Arms Containing The Arms of the Provosts, Bailiffs and Mayors of Shrewsbury 1372-1741
5 The broom is a shrub. It was used as an emblem by the English Plantagenet kings who ruled England though until 1485 (most famously used by King Richard II, who died in 1400). The inclusion of sprigs from the plant on the Cross Of St George shield makes one speculate that the shield is acknowledging the royal rulers as well as England’s patron saint, St George.
6 … “Holy Trinity” … the Christian belief in the three-in-one unity of God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit. Charles V of France had made a point of introducing the Trinity to heraldry with his adoption of the three fleur-de-lis in 1376
6 ...”tripartite Welsh gods”… See Miranda Green article ‘Resonances Of The Past’
6 The shrine to St Winefride, in Shrewsbury Abbey, was destroyed during the Reformation

7 To be utterly correct, it is cheetahs that have circular spots; leopards have spots that resemble rosettes.
8 For more about attribution, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attributed_arms
8 The Book of Arms in Shrewsbury Archives is a copy (transcribed in 1906 by antiquarian Joseph Morris) of the original at Shrewsbury School
9 It’s not clear how the nearby village of Loggerheads got its name, though it could be named after its pub, which was known formerly as ‘The Three Loggerheads’
10 … “Indian word”… Shrewsbury Borough Council quoted an observation that, in some Indian districts, the name for a leopard is lagger and that Crusaders may have heard this word in the Middle East and gone on to repeat it at home.
10 Mr Davies’ article is, as of 2024, unpublished
16 ‘The Situation Of Shrowesbury’ is one of a number of maps of the counties and towns of England made by John Speed in the early 17th century
17 For more about attribution, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attributed_arms
18 Heraldry does not recognise shades of colours – so gold, amber and yellow are all the same colour to a herald.
18 Morris Senior had started a candle-works in 1869, but it was only under JK (Morris Junior) that the lubricants concern really took off. In 1911, JK bought Rowley House (near Shrewsbury’s Welsh Bridge) to house the expanding business. It moved to its current home in 1927.
21 This site is featured in the 2025 Loggerheads Walking Trail of Shrewsbury
24 The image of St Paul that features the likeness of Clement is to be seen in stained-glass at St. Peter's Church in Stanton Lacy, a village some thirty miles from Shrewsbury.
31 An ‘accession’ is the record made by curators of an item’s provenance & dates, created at the time it is legally accepted into their collection.
33 … “might be 1800s” … see the Historic Environment Records report – 'A Structural Survey and Documentary History of the Old Market Hall'.
34 ..."regional newspaper"… The Chester Chronicle 1834
35 A wax-impression of the original Shrewsbury School Seal is held at Shrewsbury Archives. The original appears to be lost.
37 ...”unknown poet…” Does any reader know who this might be?
41 … “former headquarters” … This building was erected by The Alliance Assurance Company, which had taken over both the Salop Fire Insurance Company and its rival The Shropshire and North Wales Assurance Company in 1890.
45 The ‘Shrewsbury Levy’ was a sort of militia raised by the town. See ‘Shrewsbury 800 Years’ (published Shrewsbury Borough Council, 1989) for the claim that the 1522 Levy wore loggerheads.