Wyvern Crest on Midland Hotel – Manchester, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 28.607 W 002° 14.735
30U E 550069 N 5925576
A Wyvern is a legendary winged reptilian creature with a dragon’s head, 2 legs and a barbed tail.
In this case it is the crest on the coat of arms of the Midland Railway Company.
Waymark Code: WMEABH
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/26/2012
Views: 3
It is over what is now the rear entrance to the Midland Hotel, a rather grand building erected as a railway hotel in 1903 to serve the nearby Central Station.
Although this is smaller than the main entrance on the other side of the building it faces what used to be Central Railway Station. These days the station has been converted into a large conference centre.
The Midland Railway company claimed that the Wyvern was a traditional symbol of the ancient kingdom of Wessex, but there is no documentary evidence of this.
The Midland Railway’s version of the Wyvern has no legs showing, but this is simply because it is lying on them rather than because it does not have any.
Some people have speculated that the Wyvern may have been inspired by sightings of the supposedly extinct dinosaur the Pterosaur. If so it would be a very scary beast indeed. (
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