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Item number: P964

Handstamp for Pontefract cakes made by W. R. Wilkinson & Co. The stylised castle of a wall between two towers has an owl perched on it. The owl is a reference to the Saville family who owned land around Pontefract and Leeds. Locally, it is commonly thought that the emblem on most 'cakes' is based on the siege coins minted at Pontefract Castle in the Civil War. There is no evidence that this is in fact true. The emblems of the castle and owl later appeared in the company's 'seal' developed in the 1940s.
W. R. Wilkinson & Co Ltd
Date: 1884-1924