Swan emblem seal on Marlow Bridge beams
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Swan emblem seal on Marlow Bridge beams by David Hawgood as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Swan emblem seal on Marlow Bridge beams
Image: © David Hawgood Taken: 14 Aug 2012
The design on the end of each beam has the date 1860 when the bridge was renovated. The swan has no chain round its neck, apparently a symbol for the Thames, whereas the swan which is the symbol of Buckinghamshire does have a chain. The wording "Sigil de Desbro" seems to mean "Seal of Desborough" - Marlow was in the Hundred of Desborough which is one of the Chiltern Hundreds. The Civic Heraldry website http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/thames_valley_chilterns.html says the arms of Buckinghamshire show a swan with a chain, but one supporter representing South Buckinghamshire is a swan without a chain. Various websites give Desbro as a variant of the surname Desborough.
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Image Location
Latitude
51.567452
Longitude
-0.773596