LOCAL HERALDRY. 
339 
the Heralds' Visitation of 1574 except that a still older seal was 
then shown to them. Nothing could be better than the simple 
dignity of the saltire and castles surmounted by the coronet of 
fleurs-de-lis, either with or without the supporting lions, or in more 
correct heraldic taste. At the same time, if there is a wish to 
perpetuate the use of the coat with the ship, there does not seem 
to be any valid objection to their being quartered (see pi. fig. 1), 
as both coats have been allowed by the heralds. 
At the corner of Mill Lane, now Mill Street, built into the side 
wall of the house on the north side, the front of which is in Saltash 
Street, is an old carved stone, dating probably from some time in 
the first half of the seventeenth century. It has a shield with the 
saltire and four castles, surmounted by the coronet, and with two 
lions rampant gardant as supporters. It very probably adorned one 
of the town gateways, and the beautiful simplicity of its design 
must be commended as an example. 
In the Tavistock Road, near the Reservoir, is a piece of carved 
stonework, on which are displayed the Royal Arms of the Stuart 
sovereigns, the saltire and castles of the town, and the arms of Sir 
Francis Drake, Knt., a /esse wavy betw. two estoils, granted to Sir 
Francis by Queen Elizabeth. The date of these shields is 1671. 
They were originally placed on a conduit at the head of Old Town 
Street, erected in the mayoralty of William Cotton, into which 
were built portions of an older conduit, erected, as the upper 
inscription testifies, in the mayoralty of John Trelawny, in 1598. 
On the key-stone of the old gateway of the Friary were the arms 
of Sparke impaling Basset ; viz., chequey, a bend erm., Sparke, imp. 
harry wavy of six, for Basset. They are the arms of Jonathan 
Sparke, Esq., of the Friary, Plymouth (son of John Sparke, Esq., 
of Plymouth, and his wife, Deborah, daughter of Jonathan Rash- 
leigh of Foy, Esq.), and Mary, his wife. On the removal of the 
arch this stone became the property of the Plymouth Institution, 
and is now built into the wall at the back of the Athenaeum ; so 
that it can only be seen from the garden, or possibly from Athen- 
aeum Street. (See pi. fig. 2.) In the course of removal the sinister 
half of the shield was much damaged, which doubtless led Mr. Worth 
to mistake the impalement for Rashleigh. Both coats (Sparke imp. 
Rashleigh, and Sparke imp. Basset) appear on a monument in the 
Church of St. Andrew, Plymouth. The date of the stone is probably 
about 1640. 
