According to the book 'Public Sculpture of Worcestershire & Shropshire', the piece of decorative work in our photo is “a coat of arms showing three leopards, swags and foliage, which surmounts a collection of crossed swords, maces and fasces” (all are symbols of authority).
However, the story of this particular loggerheads set is not properly known.
Some of the fragments in the gardens are certainly remnants of the old
Shrewsbury Guildhall, which was demolished in 1834. And there is a theory that this artwork is also from there. However, in a contemporaneous drawing (see pic below), the arms just above the doorway don't look quite the same.
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| Shrewsbury Guildhall 1796 by Ingelby, detail (from Wikimedia Commons) |
The Abbey Gardens were originally the site of the stoneyard of John Carline The Elder (1730-95) who was both an architect and a sculptor. He seems to have been a collector of pieces discarded from demolished buildings as well as a maker in his own right.
So, are these loggerheads a piece he found? Or a piece he made, only for it never to be used?
The gardens, though small, are worth a quick visit. Among the old Guildhall stonework lying about in the gardens, is the head of Justice, and some old Ionic column capitals.
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