Grosvenor Club

"Coats of Arms" can be found all over Chester and Chester has associations with heraldry through Randle Holme the deputy Chester herald (who lived in Bridge Street). One interesting example of arms is found on the front of what was once the Grosvenor Club next to the Eastgate. Other notable examples are on the Suspension Bridge, in the Town Hall and in various pubs and churches. For thos with a particular interest in "coats of arms" around Chester, we are working on a Chester Heraldry Tour.

The "Welsh Arms" on the frontage of the Grosvenor Club in Eastgate Street
Number 47 was originally a Gentlemens Club and bank. It was constructed 1883-4 and designed by Douglas and Fordham, it was enlarged in 1908. The bank was a Welsh bank (The North & South Wales Bank, established in 1836), hence the first storey frieze bears shields with (supposedly) the arms of twelve of the thirteen former shires of Wales (excluding Monmouthshire). These counties were: Glamorgan, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Cardiganshire, Brecknockshire, Radnorshire, Montgomeryshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Merionethshire, Caernarfonshire and Anglesey. Monmouthshire was at various times counted as an English county. The shields are a stylised form of a "heater shield" - a neologism, created by Victorian antiquarians due to the shape's resemblance to a clothes iron. From the 15th century, it evolved into highly specialized jousting shields, often containing a bouche, a notch or "mouth" for the lance to pass through.

In the lintel over the doorway in the entrance bay is a carving of the portcullis from the Grosvenor coat of arms. Above the door is a three-storey canted oriel window carried on corbels; between the corbels are two more coats of arms. The windows are all mullioned, those in the middle storey also having two transoms, and that in the upper storey has a transom. Between the windows is brick diapering. At the summit of this bay is a spire with a lead finial. To the left of the entrance bay is a wing containing two mullioned and transomed windows in each storey; the left-hand window in the middle storey is a canted oriel window. Centrally at the summit is another spire with a lead finial. To the right of the entrance bay are three mullioned and transomed windows in each storey, plus a two-light window in the gable. Centrally between the middle and top-storey windows is the Grosvenor coat of arms. Above the top-storey windows is the gilded date "1883". Over the window in the attic is the sheaf (garb) from the Grosvenor arms.

It is not evident at first glance which arms are associated with each county. The arms include some clear cases: three golden eagles (Caernarfonshire) and bats and daggers (Brecknockshire). However some are less clear: a white castle and a golden lion may also be Caernarfonshire, and chevrons could be Glamorgan. It is hard to identify which are the arms of Cardiganshire, Pembrokeshire, Merionethshire or Anglesey. Several of the arms appear to be related to the arms or seal of the county town. There is also a general trend that from left to right the arms are those of the historic counties from to north to south.

First Set


The first four shields are the arms of counties in North Wales:



Anglesey

 * Ship with gold shield bearing three lions and red castle. Possibly Anglesey, due to the castle being surrounded by water. Apart from thr colours, the image is almost identical to the the borough arms of Beaumaris, the former county town, as depicted on a WD & HO Wills cigarette card dating from 1904. Beaumaris was originally a Viking settlement known as Porth y Wygyr ("Port of the Vikings"), but the town itself began its development in 1295 when Edward I of England, having conquered Wales, commissioned the building of Beaumaris Castle as part of a chain of fortifications around the North Wales coast. The arms also appear in a chromolithograph catalogue of "Monograms and Heraldic Designs" by Wilkinson, Heywood & Clark Ltd, 7 Caledonian Road, London dated to around 1907. Three lions as the personal arms of the Plantagenet kings of England were first adopted from the reign of Richard I (1189–1199). Beaumaris was the port of registration for all vessels in North West Wales, covering every harbour on Anglesey and all the ports from Conwy to Pwllheli.



Caernarfonshire

 * Three golden eagles (Caernarfonshire):- originally attributed to the 12th century king, Owain Gwynedd, king of Gwynedd. There is no evidence Owain used a coat of arms during his life, but later antiquarians retroactively attributed to Owain Gwynedd the blazon: Vert, three eagles displayed in fess Or. Owain Gwynedd was born around 1100 and became King of Gwyneddin 1137i. However, although heraldic devices and arms started being used in Wales from 1150 they did not start becoming commonplace for nobility until 1300. In 1415, the Battle of Agincourt was fought in which the Caernarfonshire units were reputed to have fought under a banner of three golden eagles on green in honour of Owain Gwynedd, as mentioned by the seventeenth century poet and historian Michael Drayton. The earliest surviving depiction of these arms appears to be a brass memorial for Maredudd ap Ieuan ap Robert, a supposed descendant of Owain Gwynedd who died in 1525, which can be found in Dolwyddelan Church. Apart from the actual eagles living in the county, it is possible that the symbolism harks back to the Roman eagle (and the Roman fort at Segontium (modern Caernarfon) constructed around 77 AD. Three eagles also appeared on the three turrets of the "Eagle Tower" at Caernarfon Castle. The tower contained grand lodgings, and was probably built for Sir Otton de Grandson (c. 1238–1328), the first justiciar of Wales (1284-94). Also appears in the Kaffee Hag collection as Caernavon.



Montgomeryshire

 * Rampant red lion on gold:- appears in the arms of the kingdom of Powys Wenwynwyn (also known as Powys Cyfeiliog) and in the earlier arms of the Kingdom of Powys. The main center of government was at Mathrafal in historic Montgomeryshire. The arms are believed to have been used by Bleddyn ap Cynfyn (died 1075). Harold Godwinson and Tostig Godwinson installed him and his brother, Rhiwallon, as the co-rulers of Gwynedd on his father's death in 1063, during their destruction of the kingdom of Bleddyn's half-brother, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. He became king of Powys and co-ruler of the Kingdom of Powys with his brother Rhiwallon from 1063 to 1075. His descendants continued to rule Powys as the House of Mathrafal. The Lords of Powis continued to use the old banner of Powys for their personal arms and, as such, the banner continued to be associated with the territory, until at least 1421 when ownership of the lordship passed outside the Anglo-Welsh Charleton family. In 1573 the Lordship was transformed into the County of Montgomeryshire by the Laws in Wales Acts however there is compelling evidence that the shire continued to be popularly represented by the banner of arms of Powys because a book published in 1894 illustrates the shields of the counties of Wales and shows Montgomeryshire using a red lion device and the motto 'POWYS PARADWYS CYMRU'. The arms are identical to those of Ranulf de Meschines. Ranulf de Meschines has arms which are, on the Queens Park Suspension Bridge, a white lion on a red ground and, in the stained glass of the Town Hall, possibly a red lion on a gold ground. To add further confusion some versions of the arms of his son Ranulph De Gernon (shown in the church window on his page) and that shown on the bridge also differ - the window shows a metallic lion on a red field, while the bridge shows the opposite. Before the formal award of arms to the former Montgomeryshire County Council, the body made use of the arms of the old kingdom of Powys as reported in the 1894 Book of Public Arms by Arthur Fox Davies.



Flintshire

 * Gold castle and ship at sea. Possibly Flintshire - the castle upon a rock and ship are possibly taken from the ancient borough seal of Flint and show that Flint is a sea port with a castle on a rugged coastline. Building at Flint castle began in 1277 initially under Richard L'engenour, who would later become Mayor of Chester in 1304. The castle and its earthworks were built by 1,800 laborers and masons using local Millstone Grit ashlar and sandstone. Savoyard master mason James of Saint George was assigned "ad ordiandum opera castorum ibidem" (to undertake the works of the same castle works (referring to all Welsh castle building projects)) in April 1278. The arms of Flintshire itself are quite distinct with a cross and birds taken from the supposed arms of Edwin King of Tegeingl, a former Kingdom that covered most of the present county. However, these are very similar to the attributed arms of Edward the Confessor, which only appear to have been first used by Richard II and is based on a coin of Edward the Confessor. Richard II (1377–1399) impaled this coat with the Plantagenet arms, and it later became the basis of the arms of Westminster Abbey, in which The Confessor was buried, and of Westminster School, founded within its precinct. Richard II surrendered to Henry Bolinbroke (later Henry IV) at Flint castle and then taken to Chester Castle were he was briefly held before being transferred to London.

Merionethshire

 * Black castle: by elimination (if all others are correct) this would be Merionethshire, but does not feature the more familiar leaping goats. This in turn derived from the description of a banner borne by the men of Merioneth at the Battle of Agincourt, in the 17th century poem of the same name by Michael Drayton. Here he wrote of “three goats dancing "gainst a rising sun"; the shield was blue, the sun golden and the goats white. Speculation regarding this unusual arrangement suggests a connection with Cader Idris, where goats browsed and behind which the sun rose. Identification of the actual castle shown is only tentative. The most famous castle in the area being Harlech Castle built by Edward I during his invasion of Wales between 1282 and 1289, but looks nothing like the castle shown on the shield.

This one may well have been difficult for people to recognise as unlike the others it offers no real clues as to the location with which it is associated.

Debighshire

 * Crossed keys:- appear above the shield in the "official" arms of Denbighshire and also appear in the arms of the diocese of St Asaph. Under the Local Government Act 1972, the use of Denbighshire for local government and ceremonial purposes ended on 1 April 1974, with the creation of the new county of Clwyd. A different county of Denbighshire was created on 1 April 1996, for modern local government purposes, covering a substantially different area from the historic county.

Brecknockshire

 * Bats and daggers (Brecknockshire):- based on the supposed arms of Brychan a legendary 5th-century king of Brecknockshire. The swords/daggers are for Prince Anlach, Brychan's father and the blue "reremice" or bats are for Marchell, his mother.

Cardiganshire

 * Black castle with separate flanking towers (Cardiganshire?):- similar to the seal listed in the Kaffee Hag collection.

Third Set

 * White castle and golden lion (Carmarthenshire?):- the castle above the lion appears on the arms of the Carmarthen town council (granted 9th April 1936, to the Carmarthen Borough Council, but based on a seal in previous use). Two ostrich feathers are arranged at the sides of the castle and atop each of the outer towers of the castle is perched a Cornish Chough.


 * Red and gold chevrons (Glamorgan):- The gold shield with three red chevronels was the arms of the de Clare family, Norman Lords of Glamorgan.


 * Black castle with flags (Pembrokeshire?):- similar to the seal used by Pembroke prior to the grant of arms.


 * Blue and gold stripes (Radnorshire):- it would seem that a variation of the banner of the arms of the Mortimer family.

Sources and Links

 * Welsh County Flags
 * Kaffee Hag listing of arms of towns and cities (1933) - from "Heraldry of the world".