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Falcon
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These two signs belong to the same pub in Hatton,
Warwickshire. The design on the left dates from around 2001
when the pub was run by Peacock Inns. The second image was
captured in 2005. This bird of prey features above the arms
of the Throckmorton family. It was Clement Throckmorton who
built the nearby Haseley Manor in 1561. It was built on
ground bought by his uncle, Michael Throckmorton who had
awarded it from Mary Tudor for his services in Italy, where
he was sent to spy on Cardinal Pole but remained as his
loyal secretary. Clement Throckmorton, who was cup-bearer to
Katherine Parr, died in 1573 and is buried with his wife,
Katherine Nevill, at the local church under a fine monument
with a slate slab which features some of the finest brasses
in the county. It shows Clement in full Elizabethan armour
with sword and dagger and his wife is in detailed costume.
It is no coincidence therefore that this pub should be
called The Falcon. In addition, the pub is a really old inn
and that the neighbouring great houses at Packwood and
Baddesley Clinton date from around the sixteenth century.
Falconry was a royal sport around this period and the bird
appears in the arms of Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare,
amongst others. Don't forget we are in Shakespeare country
here. Indeed, in Macbeth, the bard wrote 'A falcon, towering
in her pride of place, was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and
kill'd.'
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