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westmoreland Coat of Arms

November 2010


Appleby (Langton), Westmoreland Branch

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Bishop John of Winchester was born in Appleby, Westmoreland, where he was reported to have been educated by the Monks there.

His shield:


Bishop Thomas de Langton, d. 1489, Bishop of Winchester was also from Appleby, as was his Nephew Robert de Langton, the Pilgrim. The arms of Robert below. The arms of Thomas to be added shortly.



Robert Langton - Pilgrim

circa.1518

These are recorded as his arms but we dont know where he was from.

Another shield of Robert Langton the Pilgrim from Queens college Oxford, is displayed below. It is a very confusing shield and it got given this name by the chap who drew it.


Mr. Everard Green, the Somerset Herrald, suggested that the arms indicate the holy places visited by Robert Langton on his Pilgrimages.

The Tau Cross = St. Anthony of Egypt.

The Escallop = St. James of Compostella.

The Demi Wheel = St. Catherine, who was burried on Mount Sinai.

The Cross = A cross-potont refering to Jerusalem.

The Torteauxes with their emblems = St. Peter and St. Paul (the sword) burried at Rome.

Vase = Precious Ointment of St. Mary Magdalen, whose grave is at Tarascon.

Cap = A protonotary apostilic


Another coat of Arms of Robert in found in Queens College, Oxford, and is described as:

Two Barrels, called 'Tuns', one with a musical note (Long note) for Lang-Ton, and the second with a vine tree growing out of it, (Wine) for Win-Ton. This Winton reference is to Robert's Uncle Thomas Langton who was Archbishop of Winton (a shorter form of Winchester). There are also a Roe and a Bear which acted as supporters and made it hte 'canting' symbol of the piety of Robert Langton towards his Uncle the Bishop of Winchester.


Finally, another for Robert Langton, that of a fret (as seen on his first shield) with a Tun, with a 'R' superimposed.



DNA and Shield Linking

We hope to be able to link the various Y chromosome DNA results to coats of arms, so that you can use your DNA test results to identify which coat of arms are yours! We do need your help with this though, we need your DNA results, check out the DNA articles here.