Heraldry at St Julian's

 
St Julian’s Church, at the top of Wyle Cop in Shrewsbury, has quite a few loggerheads - more than any other town church.  The trouble is: we don't know why they are there, as the sources on St Julian's are rather quiet.

This lovely heraldic window in the church could be showing a set of arms for a member of the Bennett family because the underlying motto, 'de bon vouloir servir le roi', appears to be theirs.  It could be that the Bennetts married into the Newports, as the Newports had arms based on a loggerheads with a gold chevron (as quartered in the top right-hand of the shield depicted). 
But it's a mystery for now.  (Maybe there's a connection with the historic Bennett's Hall?). 
If you have a suggestion, please complete the Comments Form below.  We'd be grateful!

A new book has now been published to celebrate 600 years of the loggerheads - click here to find out more.

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Loggerheads in red

 

Here's another mystery. In the east window of St George's Church at Pontesbury (some seven miles from Shrewsbury) is this set of loggerheads.  But it's not clear why they are here. 

Also, though they have the right colouring for the leopards' faces (gold), the background is a rather luscious red rather than the traditional blue.   
Did the stained-glass artist of the time (the late Victorian era) simply not realise?   Or, is this gold and red version particular to some organisation or family?
If you know... let us know! 

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Stratford mash-up

The large stock room of the WH Smith store in Shrewsbury’s Pride Hill is a treasure trove for stained-glass enthusiasts. (Sadly it’s off-limits to the public now).
Its windows were installed in the 1920s by Morris & Co, which had created the most opulent tea-rooms the town had seen. As well as the windows, a grand fireplace adorned the space.  (Fortunately, the windows have not been touched since those days). 
As you’d expect, loggerheads, as a symbol of Salopian pride, were all over the room.

The photos above & right show a detail from the central one of the six windows. 
Actually, although it shows three leopards heads, these are not 'Salopian loggerheads', but the three leopards’ heads from the town arms of Stratford upon Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare.  The reason for the Stratford connection is that the room was fashioned in mock-Elizabethan style.

However, it’s a rather bizarre image really; the artist appears to be mashing up the arms of Stratford, a scroll with a pen (to represent Shakespeare I think) and the windmill-tilting scene from the book of Don Quixote.  (The arms of Stratford should also have a blue chevron, not a red).
Very odd mix.  Can someone explain it?

It would also be lovely if someone carried out a full-scale examination of all these windows before too much time goes by.

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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.

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Going Dutch at the cafe

 

The 'Old Market Hall' cinema-cafe complex in the centre of Shrewsbury displays more than one set of loggerheads.  This one, in the cafe windows, celebrates the links between Shrewsbury and the Dutch town of Zutphen - with the town council's arms on the left and a picture of of Sir Philip Sidney on the right.
Sir Philip, who was educated at Shrewsbury and has a statue dedicated to him at Shrewsbury School, died of his wounds at the Battle of Zutphen in 1586. 
The photo shows part of the window in the OMH which was created to celebrate the long-standing 'twinning' agreement between the two towns (which only recently came to an end).

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'Hereford loggerheads' in south Shropshire

The East Window at Church Stretton St Laurence Church carries a number of heraldic panels, including these in this photo.  The arms on the left side carry the 'Hereford Diocese loggerheads' - three leopards' heads upside down with fleur-de-lys issuing from the top.  These upside down loggerheads are an integral part of the arms of the ancient see of Hereford.
Church Stretton is in the part of south Shropshire that is in the Diocese of Hereford.

The origin of the Hereford loggerheads is shrouded in mystery. 
The upside-down leopards' heads appear on the arms of the Bishop of Hereford Thomas de Cantilupe (died 1282) - but no one seems to know why the Cantilupe family had adopted them. If you do, let us know!

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Henry Tudor was here

 
In Shrewsbury, one of the most ornate tracery carvings (in a town where there are plenty anyway!) is part of a first-floor window, in an ancient  building which lies on a stretch known as Wyle Cop – the street which leads to the ‘English’ Bridge. 

The building is named Henry Tudor House, because, reportedly, Henry of Richmond stayed the night here, on his way to the battle that was to see him become Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England.

The house has been recently lovingly restored by its latest owners, and is now a rather special bar & restaurant.  We were fortunate to gain access to the exclusive dining room, where we saw these splendid casement windows featuring heraldic designs, including a loggerheads.

No one quite knows when the loggerheads window was put in.  In fact the whole window row seems to have been unremarked until it was accidentally discovered during the last century, having been hidden under plaster!
The archaeological description says the house can be dated to the 1420s, but the window itself is extremely unlikely to go back that far...

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Edwin Cole's glass

 
A very very good friend spotted this rather lovely piece of decorated glass on sale at an arts shop in Shrewsbury. Thank you to her!
It’s been attributed to Edwin Cole, who was born in the town in 1860.
Cole is much better known for his watercolours, so this is a rare find. Which probably explains why it’s quite expensive …!

It’s difficult to tell if this was a commission from the municipality (for an office) or from a private patron (for their home).  Does anyone know?

You’ll find it at Number Sixty One.

(PS if you too have spotted a loggerheads, please let us know!)

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London loggerheads

 
This piece of stained glass, made by the famous firm of CE Kempe in 1920, clearly shows a loggerheads (on the left). They are even in the right colours - gold and blue.
BUT... they are in Southwark Cathedral in London, not Shropshire. 

The main part of the window is a tribute to the medieval poet John Gower, but these two lights are probably to do with the donors, the Winkey family.
Can anyone help explain the connection between some Shropshire loggerheads and the Winkeys?

For more on the Gower window, see: https://victorianweb.org/art/stainedglass/kempe/25.html

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Prince Rupert's glass

 

Some help please!  Of what organisation or family are these arms featuring loggerheads?

You’ll find these two windows in Church Street in Shrewsbury, an old cobbled street that links St Mary’s and St Alkmund’s churches. 
By coincidence, the windows face the old Loggerheads Public House, a hostelry that doesn’t seem to have changed much in its hundreds of years of existence.

The windows are in an equally ancient building, the Prince Rupert Hotel, so called because the king’s military commander – Prince Rupert – stayed there in the seventeenth century.
No one is suggesting the windows are that old, but it’s a nice connection.

The windows contain two shields with loggerheads in them: one is a set of three black-faced ones with a chevron device; the other a single one (with the more traditional gold face on a blue background) on a cross.

However – heraldry enthusiasts that I’ve spoken to don’t recognize the two shields here.
Clearly, the presence of loggerheads in them suggests Shrewsbury connections – but can anyone identify them?

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Freemen loggerheads

 
This corner-detail of a lovely piece of modern stained-glass (the St Benedict Window) in Shrewsbury Abbey reminds us that the sponsors of the window were The Gild (sic) of Freemen of Shrewsbury.  As you'd expect, their badge carries the loggerheads.

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Loggerheads for Winefride

 
These loggerheads are to be found well outside Shropshire, in some stained-glass at Holy Name Church in Oxton near Liverpool. Yet the Shrewsbury connection is very strong.

Oxton is inside the Roman Catholic diocese of Shrewsbury (which covers a huge area).
The section of glass you see here surmounts a window dedicated to St Winefride, the patron saint of Shrewsbury.
And the stained-glass piece itself was actually made by Margaret Agnes Rope, probably the finest artist ever to have been born in Shropshire.

It all connects!

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Loggerheads in glass

 

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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