Crash-barrier types!

Bollard in St Alkmund's Square, Shrewsbury.

This rather lonely bollard is to be found in the tiny St Alkmund's Square, an out of the way location in a back-street of Shrewsbury. It was probably placed in this odd position to stop carriages crashing into the corner of the house.

Embossed on the front of the bollard, facing the viewer, is a set of loggerheads (see right).
It's hard to see them clearly as they have been painted over in black, the same colour as the post itself.
They are probably civic loggerheads - i.e. placed on the structure to indicate that it was erected by the borough/town council.

Though there are many such posts in the town, there are very few such embossed posts. The only other ones I've found are in nearby St Mary's Court, but those are very worn.

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Monolithic

Monolith in Emstrey Crematorium

It is perhaps not surprising that the centrepiece of the new Shrewsbury Cemetery in the suburb of Emstrey (built in the late fifties) should be a monolith with a set of civic loggerheads on one side.  The piece was created for the millennium, in 2000.

However that does contrast with the fact that the old (19th century) Shrewsbury Cemetery, in Longden Road, has no loggerheads anywhere in it. Odd.

The three loggerheads look rather unhappy, don't they? They are also of the type that have the sharp (not rounded) ears.

On the obverse of this monolith is an pictorial impression of the town - with its three oldest extant churches (St Mary's, St Alkmund's and St Julian's) represented, along with the town walls.

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London loggerheads

 Lights from the Gower window in Southwark Cathedral in London
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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Oldest loggerheads

 The Romaldesham Hall loggerheads
This may be the oldest full set of loggerheads (outside of seals or manuscripts) still in existence.  It was in Shrewsbury’s old Romaldesham Hall, which was demolished in 1760, so this set possibly dates back to the 17th century.
It now has pride of place in Shrewsbury Museum.

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Dodo on box

 Dodo on Shrewsbury telecom cabinet
The public relations company working to boost Shrewsbury, ‘Shrewsbury BID’, has been busy this summer commissioning artists to paint the town's telecom cabinets.  The artworks give a very colourful look to the environment.
As they seem to be on a general wildlife theme, I had rather hoped a loggerhead-leopard might be included – but sadly no.
This bird here is an (extinct) dodo, reminding us of how many species are now no longer with us.

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Last act of display

 Plaque at Severn Theatre
The large plaque by the main doors at the Severn Theatre in Shrewsbury is one of the last art commissions made by Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council. It wasn't long after this plaque went up that the council was dissolved - and the new Shrewsbury Town Council came into being.
(The loggerheads represent Shrewsbury, and the bridge represnts the village of Atcham).

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