Steve Brine joins Vice Chancellor and guests to celebrate conferement of awarding powers in Great Hall and unveiling of Coat of Arms.
The new University of Winchester Coat of Arms will be officially presented to the Chancellor of the University during a graduation ceremony on 22 October in Winchester Cathedral.
You can download the new University of Winchester Coat of Arms here (opens in a new window).
This follows a special reception for members of staff, alumni, civic leaders and friends of the University this evening (Monday 20 October) to celebrate the honour in the Great Hall, Winchester.
Prospective Winchester MP, Steve Brine was present to see the new Arms unveiled before more than 200 guests. The heraldic design work of the Arms was undertaken by the College of Arms in London, which is the official repository of the coats of arms and pedigrees of English, Welsh, Northern Irish and Commonwealth institutions, families and their descendants.
Speaking after the reception, Steve Brine said; “It is hard to believe that a great city like Winchester hasn’t always had a University with full research degree awarding powers but all of this has happened in our recent history. For those of us who live her – and work/study here – this is a day to be tremendously proud of the city. Or should I say another day to be proud of Winchester!”
The Grant of Arms to the University of Winchester is derived principally from the Arms granted to King Alfred the Great, who chose Winchester as the capital of his Kingdom of Wessex. The University has made associations with King Alfred for many years; the Winchester campus is named after King Alfred as was the institution itself from 1928-2004. The University’s Coat of Arms develops Alfred’s to illustrate the religious, academic and geographic provenance of the University of Winchester.
The ‘Shield’, which is correctly called the ‘Coat of Arms’ has a chequered ‘Field’ in red and gold, a black ‘Chief’ across the top, with two golden lions guarding an open book. When heralds granted King Alfred Arms in the fifteenth century, this consisted of almost exactly this design, except that there was a single lion in the centre of the Chief. The decision to incorporate two lions derives directly from the Arms of the City of Winchester, in the centre of which there are two golden lions looking inwards on either side of a three towered silver castle. For the University of Winchester, the castle has been replaced with an open book, which is traditionally the symbol heralds use to signify a place of learning.
On either side of the Coat of Arms are the ‘Supporters’. These are white Hampshire Hogs, each with a red rose in its mouth, taken from the County Arms of Hampshire and also in those of William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and founder of both Winchester College and New College, Oxford.
Above the ‘Helm’, or helmet, is the ‘Crest’. This is the white three towered castle, which has been taken from the City of Winchester’s Arms. There are three Saxon crowns around the towers that allude to the history of Winchester as a Saxon capital city and place of coronation, while the colour red connects the design to the red shield used in the Arms of Winchester’s Bishopric. Traditionally, the colour white represented the purity of Christ and, red, the blood that He spilled for man’s redemption, which reflects the Anglican Foundation of the University and the ancient Christian tradition of learning in Winchester.
The motto ‘wisdom ond lar’ is Old English and can be translated to ‘wisdom and knowledge’. It was inspired by the preface of King Alfred’s translation of Pope Gregory the Great’s Regula Pastoralis, which frequently refers to both wisdom and knowledge. Alfred’s translation of Regula Pastoralis was instrumental in his pursuit to improve education in Anglo-Saxon England.
“I’m delighted that the University has such an appropriate Coat of Arms. Elements which relate to the county, the city, King Alfred and our Anglican Foundation encapsulate the heart of the institution,” commented Professor Joy Carter, Vice Chancellor of the University of Winchester.
The special reception in the Great Hall to preview of the Coat of Arms was also be a celebration to mark the University’s achievement of Research Degree Awarding Powers. The authority to award Winchester’s own research degrees to doctoral students was granted to the University in August by the HM Privy Council. The decision followed a year-long scrutiny by assessors from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), the government agency that monitors standards in higher education in the UK.
Pictured; Steve Brine and Professor Joy Carter at the reception in Winchester's Great Hall (Mon 20 October 2008)
You can download the new University of Winchester Coat of Arms here (opens in a new window).