Town Coat Of Arms On Former Police Station - Bradford, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 47.094 W 001° 44.146
30U E 583294 N 5960331
This coat of arms from when Bradford was a town is high on the wall of the former police office building built in 1859.
Waymark Code: WMK21Q
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/01/2014
Views: 1
The Police Office
The Bradford Borough Charter was granted in 1847, Bradford Corporation acquired all the statutory powers off the old Municipal Corporation. 1848 was the year that the City of Bradford Police Force was amalgamated, with a Borough HQ No. 24-26 Swaine Street.
This police office was built in the didtrict of East Bowling in 1859.
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Since 1971 the building has housed the QSS Aquarium and Koi Centre, importers, wholesalers and retailers of tropical and cold water fish.
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The Coat of Arms
The coat of arms consists of a stone relief carving above the entrance to the building. There are many buildings in Bradford that have the coat of arms on them but this is quite rare as it is one of the few that shows the arms colours.
This is the coat of arms when Bradford was only a town rather than a city. The arms were granted in 1847. Bradford became a city in 1897, but was not granted City Coat of Arms until 1907, 52 years after the school was erected.
On the shield are 3 hunting horns and in the middle what is either a spring or a castle depending on who you believe and has a crest of a boar’s head. The sign for the aquarium is positioned above the shield of these arms and it’s not possible to see whether the crest is present or not.
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 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.
There is some debate about whether the object in the middle of the shield is the Castle of Ripon, or signifies a spring at Bradford Beck on the site of what is now Bradford Cathedral.