My weak joke about ‘ten Shredded Wheat’ on our school badge prompted a number of sleuths to find out what they really represented.
And the answer owes everything to heraldry.
I’m indebted to John Hennessy (1958), Phil Mackie (1963) and Kevin Hawes (1970) for all providing some good information to explain that the little ‘pillows’ on the badge are not Shredded Wheat or bales of hay but, in fact, billets.
Both John and Phil had an inkling that our badge owed something to Southwark Diocese. While the Diocese’s Coat of Arms (below) provides no hint of the St Mary’s badge, Phil pondered whether each Bishop might have his own Coat of Arms.
And he was spot on. The Bishop of Southwark in 1957 – when the new school opened and the new uniform, badge and motto was adopted – was Cyril Cowderoy (below) , ironically born in Sidcup in 1905.
And it transpired Bishop Cowderoy’s Coat of Arms had the same ten billets in exactly the same design as appears on our badge as you’ll see from the image above and which was clearly the inspiration.
Further digging from Phil also found out that the Cowderoy or Cowdery Coat of Arms had its own Coat of Arms containing yellow (ish) billets on a red background and John then told me that the billets in this instance probably represent blocks of wood or sheets of paper.
Finally, Kevin also pointed out the In Omnibus Labora motto at the bottom of the Coat of Arms which, of course, the school also adopted and is the inspiration behind this website.
As the saying goes, ‘every day’s a school day.’
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