Sam Codrington
The Dacre Beasts
The figure of a black griffin holding a banner, forms part of a group which, together with bull, ram and dolphin, are known as the Dacre Beasts. The griffin represents Thomas Lord Dacre's forebears, the Dacres of Gilsland. The banner bears the 19th-century arms (three rose chaplets) of the Greystoke family (The New Greystoke Arms). Chaplets (bearings representing a garland of leaves with four flowers at equal distances) signify great military prowess. The Dacre Beasts are rare survivors of a tradition of heraldic ornament. They represent one of the most powerful families in northern England and are a unique survivors of free standing, large-scale wooden heraldic sculpture from the English Renaissance.
The Dacre Beasts
The figure of a black griffin holding a banner, forms part of a group which, together with bull, ram and dolphin, are known as the Dacre Beasts. The griffin represents Thomas Lord Dacre's forebears, the Dacres of Gilsland. The banner bears the 19th-century arms (three rose chaplets) of the Greystoke family (The New Greystoke Arms). Chaplets (bearings representing a garland of leaves with four flowers at equal distances) signify great military prowess. The Dacre Beasts are rare survivors of a tradition of heraldic ornament. They represent one of the most powerful families in northern England and are a unique survivors of free standing, large-scale wooden heraldic sculpture from the English Renaissance.