Yeovil

Yeovil Town's Armorial Bearings - Герб города

The achievement of arms was granted originally by the Kings of Arms to Yeovil Corporation in 1954 on the occasion of centenary celebrations on the formation of the Municipal Borough. The arms depict the figure of St John the Baptist under a canopied arch, as shown in the ancient seal of the town. This is in reference to former lords of Yeovil who were the Rectors of St John the Baptist church. This figure stands between two croziers surmounted by ancient crowns.

One of the croziers stands for the Abbey and Convent of Syon, which was granted the rectory and lordship by Henry the Fifth in 1420, the other is for the Bishopric of Bath and Wells in whose diocese the town lays; while the crown for Queen Maud who gave the town borough status and made the rector its lord, and for King John who granted the town its first known market charter. All these charges are gold on a blue background, except for the Agnus Dei which is a red roundel charged with a white Holy Lamb supporting a gold cross-staff. Blue (or azure in heraldic language) was chosen for the background (or field) since this is the tincture of the fileds of arms of the See of Wells, also of the traditional arms of the Saxon kings and the hagiological colour of Ss Mary and Bridget of Syon.

The crest surmounts a closed helm, proper to civic arms, and the mantling is of the towns liveries of gold and blue. The gold Saxon crown represents Alfred the Great who was in possession of Kingston Manor in Saxon times. From it rises flames which recall several fires that caused severe damage on many occasions, they also stand for more recent engineering industries. The black bull rising from the flames with gold horns and hooves typifies the agricultural market and dairy industries. The small blue shield with its golden glove symbolises the one-time staple gloving industry of Yeovil.

The shield's supporters are, on the dexter (left as viewed) a golden lion from the arms of the Earls of Arundel, to whom the manor of Hendford descended from the Maltravers family who had held it from William the Conqueror, and whose arms, black fretted with gold, are in the top half of the shield borne by the lion. The lower green half, also fretted gold, are the Whitemore arms who held the lordship for a year under James the First. The sinister (right as viewed) supporter, a golden horse, is taken from the armorial bearings of the Horseys of Clifton Maybank who, following their renting the lordship from the Convent of Syon, became town lords under Henry VIII. The shield which this supporter wears shows the arms of the Phelips family - a red chevron between three red roses in a silver background. Sir Edward Phelips, builder of Montacute House, acquired the lordship in 1611. Each of the supporters' shields hangs by a rope which is a reminder of the hemp industry that once flourished here, and the blue collars from which they depend are charged with gold spear-heads from the arms of the Harbins of Newton Surmaville.

Finally the motto Industria Virtue et Labore - 'by diligence, courage and work' - epitomises the qualities which have made Yeovil one of the more important towns in Somerset and the West, besides giving, by the initials, one of its old names - IVEL.

Yeovil

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