A few months have passed since my excellent
Christmas holiday in the Dorset – Hampshire – Somerset area, yet I haven’t written up these
pub signs I photographed. Time to remedy that!
The
Tippling Philosopher, Milborne
Port
Now admittedly this 16th-century pub
doesn’t have a very inspiring sign, especially considering its wonderful name,
but it’s because of that name and the fact that the pub’s website actually has
some good detail about its history that I’m including this one. Oh, and my
friend Sarah and I also enjoyed a very nice lunch here.
To summarise the website: A tippler was an
ale maker, and a local tippler was plying his trade on this very site from at
least the mid 17th century. It is likely that the actual ‘Tippling Philosopher’
was one Robert Boyle, an eminent physicist, chemist and philosopher (who
developed Boyle’s Law and whose father Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, owned much of the land
around Milborne Port. It seems Robert may have spent his
evenings in this very alehouse, pontificating on his theories of life, the
universe and everything. (The website has even more fascinating snippets of
history if you’ve a mind to know more.)
The
Grosvenor Arms, Shaftesbury
Though there has been an inn (previously
named The Red Lion) at this location since the medieval era, the current
building is elegant Georgian, rebuilt and renamed The Grosvenor Arms when
purchased by the Grosvenor family in 1820.
The pub sign shows the family’s coat
of arms, whose motto Virtus non stemma
means Virtue, not pedigree.
The hounds supporting the shield are Talbot dogs,
which were introduced to Britain
as hunting dogs by the Normans .
The
George, Sherborne
The sign claims that The George is the
oldest pub in Sherborne and that may well be true, as the British Listed
Buildings website states that the building may date from the early 16th
century, when it formed part of Becket’s Chapel or Hospital. The building has
since been much altered, though it retains enough of its original features to
maintain its Grade II listing. The sign shows a very well drawn version of the
traditional story of St George slaying the dragon
The
Half Moon, Sherborne
Unfortunately I’ve found no information
about The Half Moon. The building looks old, though not as old as many in
Sherborne town centre, and I assume the inn is named after its location in Half Moon Street . The
pub’s sign also appears modern but I like its stylistic simplicity.
The
Plume of Feathers, Sherborne
Dating from around 1590, The Plume of Feathers enjoys a prime location immediately opposite stunning Sherborne Abbey.
It is a building of two parts: the left side of three storeys retains its 16th-
or early 17th-century stone mullioned windows, while the right side, of two
storeys, dates from some time in the 19th century.
The plume of feathers
symbol, and its accompanying motto Ich dien (I serve), can be seen adorning
many British pubs, and is in common use in many other contexts: it can be seen
on the reverse of the old 2 pence coins, it’s the logo of the Welsh Rugby team,
and, of course, it’s the official badge of The Prince of Wales. You can read
more about the origins of the badge here.
The
White Hart, Sherborne
Like the plume of feathers above, the white
hart is another very common inn name – the fifth most popular, in fact, and
another that’s associated with royalty. The white hart was the personal badge
of Richard II, and the creature itself (a leucistic adult male red deer ) has a long and interesting place in
Celtic and later Christian myth and history. Sherborne’s White Hart is set
amongst a row of Grade-II listed buildings in the very heart of that historic
town, and looks a very nice place to enjoy a glass or two.
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