Somerset has many dragon myths, legends and folklore with stories and traditions being passed down the generations. Tales include a story of a dragon killed by a local man called Fulk Fitzwarin and at Kingston St Mary a village is said to have rolled a large stone down a hill to kill a dragon, there are many more dragon myths and legends in the region
The county of Somerset features a dragon as part of the county crest, the dragon is depicted often as a red dragon but also features as a white dragon over a red background on the emblem. The county council adopted the dragon back in 1908. There are many representations of dragons to be found in Somerset such as dragons found on or in churches dating from the 8th-9th century, dragon and wyvern mosaics, dragon featuring on the signage of the county library, a dragon on the county crest of Somerset cricket club and countless other examples
Somerset Brick and Tile Museum in Bridgwater
The many dragon myths and legends have special relevance because in the 1840s 1300 people in Bridgwater produced bricks and tiles using local clay at Barham Brothers, makers of bricks, tiles, cement and plaster. Some of the pieces produced included original clay dragon finials, wyverns, griffins, grotesques and mythical beasts. Today the Somerset Brick and Tile Museum in Bridgwater is a tribute to a bygone era and dedicated to the brick and tile industry of Somerset. The museum celebrates Somerset’s rich history and exhibits artifacts from the area including some decorative dragon finials
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The reason that dragons feature so heavily in Somerset as roof dragons, ridge dragons and finials could be for any of the following reasons:
- To ward off evil spirits
- To celebrate local myths and legends
- Decoration and relevance to Somerset
- To symbolise the victory of Christianity over Paganism
We have some excellent examples of ridge dragons, wyverns and grotesques that are very much in keeping with the dragon myths and legends of Somerset and can serve as an excellent feature on roofs, in the garden or to other kinds of displays or structure to add relevant character and charm
Check out the gallery photos and be sure to check out the great ridge dragon designs that we offer