Whitehall Weathervane : A Story from the Past

whitehall weathervanes

All range of ages, from young to old, for centuries have been captured by weather vanes. You can see some roosters above the barns, or trotting horses from elegant houses, and do you know that these weathervanes have a rich history? Continue reading this article, and you will find how they come to be, who made the first weathervane, and why you call it weathervane.

It is written in some ancient literatures that the first weathervane was adorned the Tower of Winds in Athens to the year 48 B.C. With its 4’ long, this long weathervane took form of Triton, the Greek God who has upper torso of human and lower body of a fish. Based on the fact that ancient Greeks and Christian Romans have the belief that wind has divine powers, the Hermes, Mercury, or Boreas form of weathervanes were never found.

The idea of weathervane then is picked up by the Norsemen, and then their own ideas were made in the 9^th century. For Vikings, they created banner-style weathervanes, placed them on their ships, of course for navigational purposes. On top of it, usually they create some animal figurines, that’s why you can find this style in Norway and Sweden.

To commemorate Jesus’ prophecy that the cock would not crow the morning after The Last Supper, all churches in Europe display a cock atop their churches based on the decreed of the Pope Actually, before the decreed of the Pope, it is a common to see churches display a cock weathervane, both in Europe and America.

On top of Mount Vernon estate, George Washington put a special weathervane to commemorate the end of the Revolutionary War. Joseph Rakestraw made this weathervane in 1787, and he took the form of a dove carrying an olive branch. Thomas Jefferson has special interest about this weathervane, he attached weathervane to a pointer inside his house. His intention is to know the direction of the wind without having to leave the house.

In the 1800’s, racing horses weathervanes were very popular.

Nowadays, there are various forms of weathervanes, such as Whitehall weathervane, elegant silhouettes, fanciful scrolls and arrows, and even three-dimensional ones. Last words, there are many forms of weathervanes waiting to be created by creative people in this world. You name it, you got it!

Check my lst guide on rooster weathervane and airplane weathervanes.