The Armorial Bearings granted by Letters Patent in 1970, originally
to the former Urban District Council and later transferred to the
Town Council in 1974.
Blazon (official description) of the Arms - “Or THREE CROWNS
gules on a CHIEF azure a mitre argent garnished Or”
Motto - “Sit Anima Mea Cum Christo”
translated from Latin this means “May my Soul be with
Christ”
The Arms were designed by the College of Arms and are similar to
those belonging to the Abbot of St. Osyth in Essex. The significance
of this is that the Town and Manor of Stowmarket, with the royalties
and the church living, were held by the Austin Abbey of St. Osyth
from 1348 until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536.
St. Osyth was Ositha, daughter of King Frithwald and married to
Sighere, King of the East Saxons. It is said that she lived as a
religious person and was martyred by the Danes in 653 in one of
their bloody ravages. It is also claimed that the Monastery adopted
the arms of St. Osyth to honour her memory – three bloody
crowns which spoke of the painful death of the pious virgin Queen
and the gold shield of rich inheritance in heaven.
|
