Good to see the loggerheads out in full force on the town's high street, alongside Union Jacks, for Shrewsbury's Jubilee bunting decorations. The Queen celebrates her seventieth year on the throne this weekend.
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You feel as these three could really bite if they wanted to; their whiskers are sharp enough too!
You’ll find them overhead as you mount the stairs inside the entrance to the new University of Shrewsbury. This work is clearly an homage to the loggerheads themselves, as there is no sign that they derive from a heraldic device. The sculptor has given them a bronze colour as well, rather than the traditional gold/amber.
The university took over the Guildhall complex from the old Shrewsbury Council when it was set up just a few years ago, so the trio might have been left behind by the departing councillors. Or was it a new addition – a gesture of allegiance by the university to its home-to-be?
It would be interesting to know – please contact us if you have the knowledge.
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This plaque, now on display in Shrewsbury Castle Military Museum, was a gift from The Admiralty to Atcham Rural Council in 1943. Atcham is a village in Shropshire not far from Shrewsbury.
The council was one of those to ‘adopt’ a ship during the Second World War: adoption meant a number of things, from knitting socks for the sailors to financial aid. Curiously, it must have been very soon after this presentation (perhaps?) that HMS Shropshire was gifted to the Royal Australian Navy, as it was in late 1943.
Interestingly, this is another example of a single loggerhead; and another instance of the tongue being depicted in a 'disc', not lolling, shape. The shape - presumably - is a protruding tongue which is then folded over. Is that right? Does anyone know the true interpretation?
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This is one of the least known examples of loggerheads in Shrewsbury even though many tourists pass it ever year.
The reason is: this particular set is featured in a stained-glass panel very high up at the top of a window in the Trinity Chapel in St Mary’s Church. You need binoculars to see them clearly.
When you do see them, you'll notice they have no lolling tongues like the standrd loggerheads.
The tracery around it is clearly of ancient fragments of glass, but it’s doubtful that the loggerheads work is as old.
Why are they up there anyway? The rest of the window has nothing to do with Shrewsbury.
Anyone want to try a guess?
They are so high that no-one has been able to get up there to check what age the glass is; and there seems to be no record of its installation.
The last mystery is that, if you look carefully, there are little white circles over the centre of the loggerheads' mouths. What are they? A glazier's mark, or something more significant?
Please let us have your thoughts... Use the comments field just down this page.
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