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I was on Swiss Cottage tube platform yesterday and noted that the tiling on the walls was glistening which caused me to notice the details.
I know they are heraldic but does anyone out there know the reason/origin or local connection to the specific tiles? The horse is related to many a supporter in a crest, the Lion in a St Geroge's cross over water of the Thames, the Royal Swan with the crown round the neck and three blades are all clasic symbols from royal crests.
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I think there are more embossed tiles than the four I have captured here (my train came along so i ran out of photography time!), but there is something curiously iconic about them.
I also realised that I have a penchant on this blog for Swiss Cottage - it features quite a bit:
http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/05/swiss-cottage-formerly-swiss-tavern.htmlhttp://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/06/boxing-fights-at-swiss-cottage.html![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAuzu9gvjGRv3l2syG3SVx2F_cY-zUTNnD2Gnh8BIOrdYqCG_X7egW1bX1-JJpfoBSGTEKf7YBpmhue6cItPGeGTcLxtB3hpLTDyWAZ8Q4bETtXoOrTWyR5Pum-g7irlnjyiVpZ5sTyUM/s320/CIMG0075.JPG)
I realise that they are all part of the amazingly iconic brand that makes up the London Underground -
http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=224 - and I guess that there is no specific link with Swiss Cottage. That in fact in this instance they relate to the City - perhaps even stations and areas that this line passes through - but I also suspect that there is some very obscure and arcane reason that justified them in the first place. Anyone out there know?
2 comments:
I think the three blades come from the County emblem for Middlesex-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Middx_arms.png
There is a book by Doug Rose called Tiles of the unexpected, which covers tiling on over 90 tube platforms and associated passage ways etc.
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