On the Ninth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me…nine dots.
There are many previous forms of the school’s coat of arms which have either displayed nine or ten dots within a variety of differently shaped shields.
A range of styles for school shields used during the past fifty years
At some point, the Cathedral developed a variation on the badge of the Diocese where the top left-hand torteau (red dot) is hidden behind a canton (small square) in which is a representation of Mary and the baby Jesus, leaving only nine dots as opposed to the original ten. The background colour of the canton is sometimes red and sometimes blue for the Dean and Chapter. The coat of arms can be seen all around the Cathedral, on the text blocks of Worcester’s medieval manuscripts and on some of the post-medieval books belonging to the Cathedral.
The red and blue canton
The idea of the torteaux in the Worcester Diocesan design comes from the coat of arms of the Giffard family. Bishop Godfrey Giffard was Bishop of Worcester from 1268-1302. Godfrey was also made the Lord Chancellor of England which was one of the most important positions in the Medieval English government. The King permitted Bishop Godfrey to fortify his residences of Worcester and Hartlebury.
Prince Arthur Tudor was the eldest son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. He was buried in Worcester Cathedral and his chantry, which is located to the right of the High Altar, near the tomb of King John, still remains today. Bishop Giffard was buried near the High Altar, and his monument has been incorporated into the design of Prince Arthur’s Chantry.
But some of you may just know it as “Nine dots, Nine bars” – the annual leaver’s bar crawl through Worcester!