The Bradford Arms, 77 Manningham Lane – Bradford, UK - Pictorial Pub Signs on Waymarking.com

This is the coat of arms when Bradford became a city. The town arms were granted in 1847. Bradford became a city in 1897, but did not receive the grant to change their coat of arms until 1907.

The coat of arms is as follows, a shield has a boar’s head on top. On the shield are 3 hunting horns and in the middle what is either a spring or a castle depending on who you believe. Supporting the shield are a white Angora goat on the right hand side and a black ram on the left.

The goats were added in the 1907 grant for city coat of arms. They represented Bradford’s wealth coming from the wool trade, especially Worsted cloth made from the wool of Angora goats.

The boar’s head and hunting horns refer to the legend dating back the 14tch Century. A dangerous boar was terrorising the local populace of Cliffe Wood. A reward of a piece of land was offered by John of Gaunt, the Earl of Lancaster, to anyone who killed the boar.

The deed was done by a lone hunter but the boar was too heavy to carry. He cut out the tongue as proof of what he had done. However someone else found the body, cut off the head and took that as proof of his kill. The 2nd hunter actually tried to claim the land first, but the arrival of the original hunter with the tongue ensured that the rightful person got the prize.

However in order to keep the land It is said that it was necessary to blow a hunting horn in the market on St. Martin’s day. It seems unlikely that this alone would secure a piece of land. A more likely story is that at that time travel was dangerous and people would offer to provide protection to travellers from outside the area. This service was announced by the blowing of the horn. In the case of Bradford the specific requirement was to provide an escort to John of Gaunt whilst travelling to the castle at Ripon.

The inscription at the bottom of the shield, ‘labor omnia vincit’ is loosely translated as hard work conquers all, reflecting Bradford’s industrial heritage.

Name of Artist: Not listed Date of current sign: Not listed Date of first pub on site: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
To log a visit, a photograph of yourself or your GPSr by the pub sign is required. Some description of your visit would be welcome.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.