City of London Coat-of-Arms - Lindsey Street, London, UK
N 51° 31.184 W 000° 06.007
30U E 701182 N 5711610
This coat-of-arms, for the City of London, is over the north east entrance to the Central Markets (Smithfield) in the City of London. The intricate carving is a fine example of this type of decoration.
Waymark Code: WMK8NB
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/01/2014
Views: 2
The relief is located in a semi-circular recess over an entrance door. The diameter of the recess is probably four metres and the radius teo metres. There are some smaller relief carvings in addition to the main piece and they are of equal high quality though not a part of the coat-of-arms.
The Heraldry of the World website tells us about the City of London coat-of-arms:
"Official blazon:
Arms: Argent a Cross Gules in the first quarter a Sword in pale point upwards of the last.
Crest: On a Wreath of the Colours a Dragon's sinister Wing Argent charged on the underside with a Cross throughout Gules.
Supporters: On either side a Dragon Argent charged on the undersides of the wings with a Cross throughout Gules.
Motto: 'DOMINE DIRIGE NOS' - Lord, direct us.
Origin/meaning:
The arms of London have never officially been granted, but have been recorded at the College of Arms, albeit without supporters and crest. The crest and helmet were granted on April 30, 1957.
The shield combines the cross of St. George with the emblem of the city's patron, St. Paul. The first cathedral dedicated to St. Paul was built in 605 in the city. The patron saint itself already appears on a 13th century seal. The arms appear for the first time on a seal from 1380.The sword has often been described or attributed to the dagger with which Sir William Walworth, Mayor of London, stabbed the rebel Wat Tyler on June 15th, 1381. The arms with the sword, however, predate this event. Another story states that the sword was granted by King Richard II as a reward for William Walworth's services to the King. There are, however, no historical evidences for either story. The dragons appear for the first time on an illustration in a book from 1633. The same book, the Survey of London, by Stow, also first mentions the motto 'Domine dirige nos' (Lord, direct us).
On a seal of the Mayoralty dating from the late 14th century the arms show two lion supporters. These are not seen elsewhere.
The origin of the dragons is not clear, it may be that they are derived from the story of St. George, the patron saint of England, in which the saint kills a dragon. The sword and the dragons thus distinguished the arms of the city from those of England.
The oldest known image of a crest dates from 1539 when they appear on the reverse of the common seal of the city. The oldest image is not very clear and looks like a fan-like object, charged with the cross of St. George. By the end of the 17th century, the crest has developed into the dragon wing. Sometimes the arms were shown with two wings, facing each other."
The East Building of the Central Markets, which this is, is Grade II* listed with the entry at the English Heritage website telling us:
Meat market. 1868 by Horace Jones, City Architect. Red brick with Portland stone dressings and corner towers; structural cast-iron to gateways and interior; tipped Welsh slate roofs with double-thickness glass louvres to lower half and louvred dormers to upper half of roof. Rectangular plan with central through-road (Central Avenue) running north to south. French-Italian Renaissance style. One storey. 36-bay north and south elevations x 6-bay east and west elevations. North and south elevations: each have central cast- iron elliptical-arched gateway to Central Avenue surmounted by pediment with City Arms to scrolled cast-iron tympanum and flanked by coupled Doric pilasters surmounted by large sitting statues of London, Edinburgh, Dublin and Liverpool. Semi-circular arched recesses to flanking bays, with decorative cast-iron grilles to tympanae and to square-headed windows with cornices and bracketed cills, articulated by Doric pilasters to triglyph frieze and moulded cornice surmounted by urns.
Similar east and west elevations each have coupled Doric pilasters flanking tall cast-iron gateway, with ornate tympanum to bracketed pediment over semi-circular arch with City Arms.
Two-storey corner pavilions: coupled Doric pilasters to similar pedimented ground floor elevations with City Arms set in foliat-carved tympanae flanked by stone griffins couchant; octagonal upper stages have oculi set in shell architraves above plate-glass sashes set in eared architraves, enriched tympanae and acroteria to pediments; each have bell-shaped cupola tiled with decorative leaf-punched copper tiles and surmounted by louvred wood lantern. Interior: Grand Avenue has 15-bay queen-post roof with decorative spandrels to lateral and transverse arch bracing, supported on cast-iron tie-beam and column assembly with foliate capitals to columns and decorative spandrels to bracing; 10 original cast-iron lanterns survive, attached to cast-iron brackets with decorative spandrels projecting from wrought-iron screens with fleur-de-lys parapets; central bay of each side has decorative wrought-iron gates each set beneath decorative iron grille. Flanking market halls centres around lateral avenue with foliate capitals to row of cast-iron columns supporting lattice girders with decorative spandels to timber arch-braced trusses; other roofs have cast-iron columns with octagonal capitals to simpler trusses without decorative spandrels.