These were implements of war carried at the belt of every Englishman even in the fifth century. Even though the English were busy as farmers and fishermen, they were at heart fighters. Tribe warred against tribe, and village against village. Feuds parted households, and passions of hatred and vengeance were handed from father to son. A grim joy of fighting was characteristic of the race. The seaxes are incorporated in the coat of arms, three of them, placed feeswise within the shield.

Other emblems in the coat of arms, like the maple leaf, are distinctively Canadian. The beaver symbolizes patience and industry, while the plow and the sheaves of wheat are symbolic of agriculture which was the primary occupation of the early residents of Middlesex County.  The Middlesex County Coat of Arms was approved by the County in January 1908, recommended by a committee comprising of S.F. Glass, J.C. Knapton, and County Clerk T.E. Robson.

The motto in the crest is "Perseverance, Industry, and Integrity."

The courthouse, built 1827-29 was designed by John Ewart, an architect from York (Toronto), who made the building resemble the ancestral home of Col. Talbot's family, likely at Talbot's suggestion. Talbot may have felt it would inspire a respect for the authority of its occupants: the appointed Justices of the Peace, their clerks, and the Sheriff. The Justices who formed the district government met four times a year. They levied taxes and directed public works such as road repair and acted as judges in trials for some types of crime. When the district level of government disappeared in 1849, leaving only the counties, the building became the Middlesex County Courthouse.

Prisoners were held in different parts of the building depending on the nature of their offence, until 1843, when the existing jail was constructed. The court room, which can still be seen today on the second floor, is now the Middlesex County council chambers. The jail and courthouse were not replaced until the early 1970s, despite repeated calls for new facilities. The County's decision to retain and restore the buildings has preserved a very visible reminder of why London was founded.