3: Our Tribute to a Great Monarch
Our special banner was one of a host of ways in which Axminster celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s historic Platinum Jubilee after 70 years of incredible service to the nation. Over that period, Her Majesty had seen 15 Prime Ministers take office, all the way through from Winston Churchill to Liz Truss.
While the Queen never undertook a royal visit to Axminster, records show that in 1789 King George III and Queen Charlotte stopped off here en route from Weymouth (where the King had been recuperating from illness) to Exeter. They were met at the gates to the town by Sir John William de la Pole and escorted first to the George Hotel and then to the Thomas Whitty & Son carpet factory where they toured the workshops.
Did you know? Most of the British population had never known another monarch. Some 81% weren't alive when she came to the throne.
Designer: Edward Roberts, a design student at Leeds University (adapted by Sarah Jackson)
Edward designed the emblem after entering a nationwide competition. His chief consideration was creating something both contemporary and appropriate to the occasion. “A lot of royal symbols are very traditional. That’s something I was cautious about changing,” he says. “A crown, for instance, is often viewed in a fairly old-fashioned way, and I definitely wanted to try to bring that into the 21st century.” The notion of continuity was key to a sense of meaning behind the emblem. “And there’s an element of delicacy, and intricacy,” he says. “I didn’t want it to be overbearing.”
Location: Former River Cottage, Trinity Square