Great Hall Entrance Pavilion Shield No.6 - The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, U.K.
Posted by: Mike_bjm
N 52° 26.962 W 001° 55.846
30U E 572665 N 5811557
Part of the Arms of the historic county of Leicestershire on the entrance pavilion to the Great Hall of Birmingham University.
Waymark Code: WM122E6
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/09/2020
Views: 3
Part of the Arms of the historic county of Leicestershire on the entrance pavilion to the Great Hall of Birmingham University.
This shield is carved in the stone spandrels of the great round-arch mullioned window which is set in the entrance pavilion to the Great Hall. The shield displays Cinquefoil, rather than a fox which is the more common symbol associated with county as the bear is associated with Warwickshire.
A Cinquefoil is ‘a five-leafed flower signifying hope and joy. In French civic heraldry, the cinquefoil is sometimes used to represent the plant, narcissus, commonly called the cinquefoil. In Scottish heraldry this symbol is called a fraise. Cinquefoils were held by the ancient heralds to represent various flowers according to the colours in which they were borne. (
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This shield is one of six carved in the stone spandrels of the window, representing the arms of the Midland counties, of England, and taken from the first quarter of the Official blazon shown below:
'Arms: Quarterly per fesse indented Argent and Gules in the first quarter a Torteau charged with a Cinquefoil Ermine in the second quarter a Lion rampant double queued also Argent in the third quarter an Ostrich Feather Ermine in the fourth quarter a Maunch Sable.’ (
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A Torteau is a red roundel. (
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Source: 'Pevsner's Architectural Glossary' by Nikolaus Pevsner (ISBN:978-0-300-22368-2)