Willesden Coat of Arms
Willesdune or Wellesdone or Wilsdon. The name of Willesden probably derives from the Anglo-Saxon Willesdune, meaning the Hill of the Spring. The earliest known use of this name was recorded in 939 AD. The Domesday Book of 1086 records it the settlement as being Wellesdone.
Traditionally a parish in Middlesex, Willesden became a municipal borough in 1933 and was granted a coat of arms. The blazon (the formal description given to a coat of arms) was:
"Gules a Chevron between in dexter chief an Orb ensigned with a Cross-crosslet Or and in sinister chief and two Swords in saltire proper hilts and pomels Or and in base three Lilies in a Pot all within a Bordure also Or charged with eight Pellets and for a Crest Issuant from a Saxon Crown two Wings Or each charged with a Cinquefoil Gules. And for Supporters: On either side a Dragon Azure gorged with a Saxon Crown Or and charged on the shoulder with two Seaxes in saltire proper hilts and pomels Or."
Courtesy: Wikimedia
The Latin motto, Labore est Orare, translates as To Work is to Pray.
The orb is the emblem attributed to King Athelstan who, about the middle of the tenth century, granted the Manors of Neasden-cum-Willesden to the Monastery of St Arkenwold, while the eight black roundels indicate the eight Saxon manors into which Willesden was divided. The crossed swords are from the arms of the See of London, the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's having held the manor at the time of the Domesday Survey. The lilies are the emblems of St Mary, the patron saint.
The wings are taken from the crest of Archbishop Bancroft, whose family formerly occupied the Manor of Mapesbury, and the cinqueloils are from the arms of All Souls College, Oxford, which owns much land in Willesden.
The Saxon crowns and the seaxes on the dragons derive from the arms of the Middlesex CC, and represent the ancient Kingdom of the Middle Saxons.
The municipal boroughs of Willesden and Wembley joined together in 1965 to create the London Borough of Brent. The coat of arms of each borough were incorporated into the new coat of arms for Brent.