Borough of Bedford Coat of Arms
The Arms and Seals of the Borough of Bedford
Variations were made by the heralds from the
end of the fifteenth century until 1688 in order to record coats of
arms and stop their unauthorised use. The earliest for
Bedfordshire was made in 1556, when the following were
recorded.
These Armes are of auncentie belonginge and apperteynynge to the
Towne and Boroughe of Bedforde tyme owt of mynde.
Will: Hervy alias Clarencieulx King of Armes
These Armes here depicted are belonginge and
apperteynynge to the Mayor Bayllyffes Burgesses and Comunaltie of
the towne and boroughe of Bedforde. Whiche Armes I
Clarencieulx kinge of armes of the Sowthe Easte and Weaste parties
of Englande have not onlie ratefied and confirmed the same unto the
Mayor Bayllyfees burgisses and comunaltie of the towne and boroughe
of Bedforde but also recorded the same, in the registers of my
vystacion now made within the countie of Bedford. And at this
present vysytacion was Robert Paradyne Mayor, Sir John Gascoigne
Knyghte recorder, Henry Albanye, Thomas Leighe, William Bull,
Rycharde Laurence, Humfrey Lawrence, Henry Lawrence, Symonde
Beckettt and Alexander Hunte associate to the saide mayor who have
byn mayors, Edward Smythe and Robert Goodalle Bayllyffes, George
Huxley and William Ladde Chamberleynes. In wyttnes whereof, I
have hereunto subscrybed my name the seventhe of June 1566.
William Hervy alias Clarencieulx King of Armes
The Certificate given by the Heralds at this
visitation is still in the possession of the Corporation.
The heraldic descriptions are:-
Per pale argent and
gules, a fesse azure
and
Argent, an eagle
displayed, wings inverted
and
head turned towards the
sinister sable,
ducally crowned and surmounted by a castle of three
tiers.
The term "of auncentie" means that the first coat
was the ancient one having been replaced by a later (or modern)
one, derived from the design of the seal. However, the
ancient arms were revived about 1800, when they were carved on a
stone for the gates to the House of Industry in Kimbolton Road and
have been in use ever since. The modern arms were confirmed
(not granted) in 1566, and must therefore have been in use then, or
a new grant would have been needed. They have been shown in
various corrupt forms with a semi-eagle rising from the castle, of
which the earliest version appears on Speed's plan (1610) and
another has even found a place on the Corporation Prayer
Books. None has any authority, and none is in use now.
The certificate was produced at the visitation of
1634 and is endorsed:
Entred in the Visitation of
Bedford made Ao Dni 1634
Geo: Owen, Yorke
Hen: Lily, Rouge-Rose
At the visitation the Common Seal of the town was
noted.
Below is a neat pen and ink drawing of the common
seale of the Towne of Bedford:
The seal is assigned to the fifteenth century by
Gale Pedrick in his "Borough Seals of the Gothic Period". The
original is lost, but "our common seal" is mentioned in a grant
made by the Corporation in 1430 and some impressions survive, the
earliest being attached to a document of 1481.
A Royal Warrant dated 29 April 1977 and granted on
the petition of Thomas Robert Donnelly, then Mayor of the Borough,
authorised the Earl Marshall to grant to the Borough Council
licence to use the two coats of arms described above and an
exemplification dated 30th December 1977 was made
accordingly. The design of the eagle and castle was redrawn
and is reproduced on the front cover. The exemplification was
presented to the Council by the Lord Lieutenant of the County on
27th April 1978.
The Mayor's seal shows two wyvern-like monsters or
salamanders, which is not unusual in seals of this kind. It
also is lost, but is known from impressions from 1348 onwards. A
copy with mistakes in the inscription was sometimes used in place
of the common seal in the eighteenth century.
The Bailiff's seal had a design very like the
Mayor's. It was applied to the paper, not fixed by a
seal-tag, and was used to authenticate writs issuing out of Bedford
Court of Pleas. There are no impressions good enough to
reproduce.
New seals were ordered by the reformed Corporation
in 1836. They were designed by Benjamin Wyon, medallist to
the King and Chief Engraver of his Majesty's Seals. Of these,
one was designed as a stamp and the others for use on wax.
They show the eagle and castle design on a shield with Sigillum
Villae Bedefordiae instead of a motto. A lever press seal was
provided in 1898 and a rubber stamp for the mayor's seal in
1856.
The seals now in use were presented by Alderman
Gilbert Henry Barford in 1923 and are closely copied from the
original designs.
Conjectures about the symbolic meaning of heraldic
charges are mostly fanciful; yet their use must imply a reason, if
it could be recovered. The last male of the Beauchamps of
Bedford, who held the barony, was killed at the Battle of Evesham
in 1265 and is said to have borne a shield with an eagle, unlike
the rest of his family. Since the barony then fell into
abeyance, the town may have adopted the eagle to remind themselves
that they had no overlord.
The very ancient design of the first coat of arms
may have been used on a banner, being intended to suggest a town
divided north and south by the highway, east and west by the
river.
The version of the second coat of arms, which is
shown below, was made in 1963 at the College of Arms, in a greatly
improved style. Both shields are without crest, motto and
supporters.
Like any other arms, these belong to the grantees
or other proprietors, in this case the Council, and may not be used
by others.