The Leopard tomb

 

This post is a bit of a long-shot, but if anyone has any more information, I'd be glad of it.

This is the Leopard tomb at Haughmond Abbey, a medieval ruin near Shrewsbury. (It's in a lovely spot, still has interesting carvings, and it's free entry, so it's well worth a visit).
The tomb is so-called because it features what experts believe to be the figure of a leopard.  You can't see the leopard in this photo because it chipped off, and is now in the site exhibition.

If you look at the illustration, right, it shows how the leopard fitted into the tomb.

What's interesting is that, while lions were a well-known motif in heraldry, leopards and tigers much less so, especially in England.  So, what would be wonderful to know is whose tomb this is; currently, nobody is sure.
If that information is out there, it might establish yet another connection between Shrewsbury and leopards. 
So - if you have a thought, let us hear it!

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Leopards. Definitely!

 
You may need to squint a bit - but in this picture you can see a leopard (with spots!) inside a pink-ish template of the shape of the county of Shropshire. This piece of pavement-artwork is just outside the offices of Shropshire Archives in Shrewsbury.

There has been debate over the centuries as to whether the loggerheads that are emblematic of the town are lions or leopards.  It looks like the Archives think they are definitely leopards. 

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