Sorry for the long gap between posts, I’ve had a bit of blogger’s block. I hope to post more regularly from now…
I recently attended the Freedom of the City Ceremony for the fabulous magician Oliver Tabor, given by my friend Laura Miller, who is now the first ever female Clerk to the Chamberlain’s court of the Corporation of London.
After the ceremony she showed us some of the City treasures, including a newish acquisition – the wooden box made especially for Winston Churchill when he was given his honorary Freedom (a signal honour awarded to very few) in 1943.
The box was made of wood from the burnt out timbers of the Guildhall roof, after fire bombs destroyed it in the Blitz.
Now when I looked very closely at the monogram on the lid of the box, something clicked for me and I thought – hold on, that reminds me of Alfred the Great’s Londonia monogram coin of 886.
Have a look for yourself.
And here is the coin, in my possession. Alfred the Great commissioned this coin when he officially reoccupied London to protect the city from Viking incursion.
After the Romans left in the early 5th century the Saxons moved out of the Roman walled city to modern day Covent Garden / Aldwych area and named it Lundenwic. However it was not easy to defend compared to the Walled original Roman City.
In each case they spell out the name of the capital we live in, the modern one spells out London, and the older one spells out Londinia.
Here is the way Londinia is spelt.
I haven’t found any reference on the internet to this monogram inspiring the Churchill casket, but I am absolutely sure it must be, it’s too close to be a coincidence.
I will do more research on who created the casket and whether this link is acknowledged, but in the meantime let me know if you hear anything more!
All the best,
The London Spy
