ANIMAL STATUES IN LONDON
Animal Statues in London
Denmark Hill Sutton
The Fox is in the front garden of the Fox on the Hill, a very nice Wetherspoons with great views - you can see the London Eye in the distance.
The name of the pub dates back to the 1700s when The Fox was situated further down Denmark Hill. Later it was renamed The Fox Under Hill and the starting point for many hunting meets with foxhounds. It was flattened by the Luftwaffe in 1941 and later rebuilt at this new location as the present Fox on the Hill. It stands next to Ruskin Park on Denmark Hill, named after Prince George of Denmark, who hunted there. He was the husband of Queen Anne.
"The English country gentlemen galloping after a fox is the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable". Oscar Wilde
David Wynne's Messenger statue (1981) stands outside Quadrant House in Sutton. There's more of Wynne's work later.
Woolwich
Woolwich is in the borough of Royal Greenwich, twinned with the borough of Reinickendorf in Berlin. Buddy Bear, in front of another Wetherspoons, was a gift from Reinickendorf in 2016 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the twinning.
Pentonville Road
Wild Kong and variants thereof is a pop-art sculpture created by French artist Richard Orlinski. This one appears to have been acquired by an estate agent to promote a new development. I don’t know anything else about it but it added a splash of colour on a dull day.
Islington
A sand sculpture which would have only lasted a couple of hours before being washed away on a rainy day.
Dr Johnson’s House, Gough Square
This statue of Hodge, Dr Johnson’s cat, stands in front of the house where the lexicographer compiled his great Dictionary of the English Language.
Johnson's masterwork was published in two volumes in 1755 and, until the publication of the Oxford English Dictionary 173 years later, it was considered to be the definitive English dictionary.
Hodge is seen sitting alongside oyster shells atop his master’s dictionary. In those days oysters were cheap and Johnson bought them for his cat.
Fleet Street
This is quite striking, but I know nothing about its connection to the hotel.
Trafalgar Square
..... some of the animals which adorn the South African High Commission.
The paws of the four lions around Nelson's Column were modelled on a domestic cat after the lion’s corpse used by designer Sir Edwin Landseer began to decompose. Their backs are wrong as they are convex rather than concave. But it makes it easier for kids to climb on them.
There are also dolphins in the Trafalgar Square fountains ......
..... but the huge blue cockerel is long-gone, having been one of the (better) temporary sculptures to have appeared on the fourth plinth.
Paternoster Square Bond Street
Paternoster is a bronze by Elisabeth Frink unveiled by Yehudi Menuhin in 1975. The artwork, also known as
Shepherd and Sheep, references the former use of Paternoster Row as the site of Newgate livestock market.
Frink's Horse And Rider (1974) stands in the Town Square on Bond Street. It was moved here from Mayfair in 2018 to mark the new entrance to the Royal Academy of Arts.
Catford Centre Southwark Park
The most striking landmark in Catford is the Catford Cat, a huge sculpture at the entrance to Catford Centre, a small soulless shopping mall. The moggie is made of fibreglass, so unlikely to be a Henry Moore.
David Backhouse’s sculpture, Family of Dolphins, at one time in Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, was gifted to Southwark Council by Tesco. It looks better when the fountain is switched on.
Elephant and Castle
The Elephant and Castle area is named after a pub of the same name which started as a blacksmith's forge in 1614. The iconic statue was salvaged from the original pub. It has recently been restored and temporarily placed in Castle Square. The statue will eventually be moved to the new Elephant shopping mall currently under construction. Other elephants are available in these parts. But they are unlikely to have the longevity of the original.
Albert Memorial
On the four corners of the monument are a camel, a bison, a bull and an elephant representing Africa, the Americas, Europe and Asia ....
Canary Wharf
Snub Nose Monkey II by Stephanie Quayle is made of terracotta, body stain and chocolate black clay. It can be found in the lobby of One Canada Square.
I'm not sure if Igor Mitoraj's Centauro qualifies as an animal. Likewise, Damien Hirst's Mermaid (2014) ....
Greenwich Peninsula
..... and the two Sphinxes which flank Cleopatra's Needle .....
Embankment
The Egyptian theme along the Embankment continues with sphinx and camel benches .....
...... the benches, and the two large sphinxes, were designed by George Vulliamy, superintending architect of the Metropolitan Board of Works.
The paths on both sides of the Thames in central London are illuminated by dolphin lampposts - except they are not actually dolphins but pairs of sturgeons with the face of Neptune. These were also designed by Vulliamy.
Directly opposite the London Eye a memorial to members of the RAF who died in the two world wars is topped with a large golden eagle.
Westminster Bridge
On the north approach there is the splendid chariot of Boadicea and Her Daughters featuring the knives attached to each wheel with which the Celtic queen scythed down Roman foot soldiers.
The lion that guards the southern end of Westminster Bridge was created in 1837 for the Lion Brewery which stood on what is now the site of the Royal Festival Hall. When the brewery closed in 1949 the lion was saved, allegedly at the behest of King George VI.
Euston Station
Flinders led the first circumnavigation of Australia (1801–03) and, although he didn't invent the term, is credited with popularising the country's name.
Archaeologists working on HS2, which will terminate at Euston Station, discovered Flinders grave here in January 2019.
Tower Bridge
David Wynne sculpted many famous people including Queen Elizabeth II and the Beatles, whom he introduced to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. But perhaps his most famous work is Girl With A Dolphin which was unveiled in 1973.
Wynne died in 2014 without divulging who had modelled for the sculpture. But, in November 2023 Virginia Wade revealed she was the naked model, although the head of the girl was obviously not hers. Around the same time Wynne produced a bust of the British tennis star which can be seen in the National Portrait Gallery.
Albert Bridge
In 1975, David Wynne's Boy With A Dolphin was unveiled, the boy being his son Roly. Tragically, in 1999, aged 35, Roly committed suicide.
IN MEMORIAM
ROLAND DAVID AMADEUS WYNNE
1964-1999
WHO POSED FOR THIS SCULPTURE
Hyde Park
David Wynne was also responsible for the Lion & Unicorn centrepiece of the Queen Mother's Gate in Hyde Park. The stainless steel and bronze gates, railings and lights were designed and made by Giusseppe Lund.
Battersea Park Waterloo Station
The Brown Dog in Battersea Park was erected in 1906 in memory of dogs that were used in vivisection experiments. But this isn't the original statue which was removed in 1907 after being attacked by medical students at a time when there were clashes between the pro-vivisection lobby and Battersea residents. They became known as the "Brown Dog Riots".
In 1985 this new brown dog was unveiled. It is based on a terrier owned by its sculptor Nicola Hicks.
The Waterloo elephant, created by Kendra Haste with packed wire mesh, was originally part of a temporary exhibition of animal sculptures at Gloucester Road Tube Station.
Grosvenor Square
The American Embassy may have moved from Grosvenor Square to Nine Elms but its huge golden eagle remains in its original location, now luxury apartments. The building is Grade II listed and Historic England stipulated it stay put. The eagle, which is made of aluminium gilded with gold, has a wing span of over ten metres.
Highgate Cemetery
This lion statue marks the grave of George Wombwell (1777-1850). Wombwell became a household name as owner of three large travelling animal shows. He bred the first lion to be born in captivity in Britain and named it William after William Wallace. But the lion on the statue is thought to be Nero, another of his lions.
Thomas Sayers (1826-1865) dog named Lion graces his grave. Sayers became a sporting hero at bare-knuckle prize fighting, then illegal. His funeral was the largest Highgate Cemetery has seen with around 100,000 in attendance. Lion was the chief mourner but is not buried here.
In another plot at Highgate, a far-from-knackered Suffolk Punch horse marks the graves of the second of John Atcheler’s three wives, his son and stepson.
Atcheler was a 'knacker' who became rich and famous as ‘Horse Slaughter to Queen Victoria’. A dead horse was valuable. On his death, Atcheler was worth £35,000, equivalent to around £3.5 million today. Horse meat became dog and cat food, the hide became leather, the tail and mane hair provided padding for furniture and mattresses, the oil from the bones was used on harnesses and for soap and glue manufacture then ground up with the hooves for fertiliser. Farriers recycled the horseshoes. So, flogging a dead horse was maybe not so futile.
Atcheler was a 'knacker' who became rich and famous as ‘Horse Slaughter to Queen Victoria’. A dead horse was valuable. On his death, Atcheler was worth £35,000, equivalent to around £3.5 million today. Horse meat became dog and cat food, the hide became leather, the tail and mane hair provided padding for furniture and mattresses, the oil from the bones was used on harnesses and for soap and glue manufacture then ground up with the hooves for fertiliser. Farriers recycled the horseshoes. So, flogging a dead horse was maybe not so futile.
Southwark
Located opposite Southward Underground station, this golden retriever statue was unveiled in 2013 on the final day of Charles Dicken's bicentenary. It is a copy made of elmwood by Michael Painter. The original, made of brass, can still be seen in Southwark's Cuming Museum.
Park Lane
Animals in War Monument: Altogether an estimated eight million horses and one million dogs died in WWI. All manner of other creatures served, including glow worms as night lights in the trenches and slugs for detecting mustard gas.
Still Life is the largest free-standing bronze sculpture in London. Created by Irish-born Nic Fiddian-Green, it is 10 metres high and originally stood at Marble Arch. It has since been moved to the southern end of Park Lane. But I prefer this picture - it would have been even better if The Godfather had been showing at the Odeon.
Crystal Palace Park
Without a doubt the most famous attraction in Crystal Palace Park is the Dinosaurs. There are over thirty life-size models located on islands within the lakes at the Penge side of the park. Unveiled in 1854, they were a sensation, representing (not entirely accurately) many newly-discovered prehistoric creatures.
105-109 Oxford Street
High above Oxford Street are three beaver statues crowning what was once Henry Heath's Hat Shop. They made quality hats here from the 1820s to 1930s from the fur of beavers, otters, rabbits, hares and musk rats.
The beaver fur, reckoned to be the best at repelling the rain, was imported from Canada as European beaver had been hunted to extinction long before 1820.
Heath's original terracotta signage can still be seen at the rear of the building.
Nice Beaver ©Naked Gun
Monument
London's smallest public statue can be found on Philpot Lane. The Two Mice Eating Cheese is a memorial to two builders working on the Monument. They plunged to their deaths whilst fighting after one accused the other of nibbling his cheese sandwich.
Royal Exchange
On top of the Royal Exchange is a gilded grasshopper weather vane. The Grasshopper was the personal emblem of Thomas Gresham who created the the original Royal Exchange after visiting the Antwerp Bourse.
Lombard Street Change Alley
If you know where to look, there are several other Gresham Grasshoppers in the area. The one at 68 Lombard Street is above Gresham's former head office. It is dated 1563 so survived the Great Fire.
The Change Alley Grasshopper is on the site of Garraways Coffee House (1660-1874) which features in many Dickens works.
Stafford Street
Build in 1686, the Goat Tavern was a popular public house for the British Navy. Spies would also lurk there in the hope that loose lips would indeed sink ships.
Lord Nelson regularly met his mistress Lady Emma Hamilton upstairs.
Leicester Square
Can there be anywhere better to sit and eat your sandwiches (or carrots) whilst checking out the tourists?
Paddington Station
"Please look after this bear" is written on the label attached to what is perhaps the most photographed statue in London. Along with the bench, Paddington's bronze statue can be found on Platform 1.
To publicise the opening of Paddington in Peru, a whole trail of Paddington statues appeared briefly in the capital. But I think the only permanent ones are those in Leicester Square, Paddington Station and St Mary's Square behind the station ......
..... here, the two-dimensional Paddington, with his creator Michael Bond, stands alongside Alan Turing and Mary Seacole. The unlikely trio are part of Sustrans 'portrait bench' initiative.
Mile End Park
This Towpath Horse stands by the Regent's Canal in another 'portrait bench' alongside suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst and former Spurs defender Ledley King. I had to remove a blanket from the steel steed for the photo. Maybe one of the bargees was using the statue as a clothes horse.
Coventry Street
When the famous Swiss clock isn’t striking, the most striking thing in Coventry Street is the Four Bronze Horses of the Helios on the corner of Haymarket.
Well it was, but Rudy Weller's horses were corralled and the fountain switched off way before the pandemic - and have remained so. Shame.
There are many more statues featuring horses in London - but most of them are little more than plinths for generals or royalty. However, a few are worth commenting on .....
St James's Square
William III statue
One day in 1702, William of Orange’s horse tripped on a molehill. He fell off, injuring himself, and complications resulted in his death soon afterwards from pneumonia. This sculptor thoughtfully included a molehill in his creation. Catholics used to toast ‘the little gentleman in the velvet waistcoat’ for bringing down a Protestant king. There is also a story that his horse had been previously owned by someone William had executed.
Hyde Park Corner Royal Exchange
The Duke of Wellington is the only person to have two equestrian statues in London. The horse in both is most likely his favourite Copenhagen - worth remembering for pub quizzes.
Beyond the statue at Hyde Park Corner, on top of the Wellington Arch, is a quadriga depicting the angel of peace descending on a chariot of war.
Wellington Arch was originally topped with an equestrian statue of the Duke which was ridiculed as its massive size dwarfed the arch. After Wellington died the statue was removed and, in 1912, replaced by the chariot.
Royal Exchange
These canine photographers by sculptors and wildlife activists Gillie and Marc. The Australia couple are responsible for distinctive animal sculptures in over 250 cities worldwide, including quite a few in London .....
Kingston upon Thames
The chimps are all by Gillie and Marc. The telephone box sculpture, created by David Mach, is entitled Out of Order. Commissioned in 1988, it was described by Mach as "anti-minimalist".
Paternoster Square
The wonderful Wild Table Of Love is no longer in Paternoster Square. It was recently spotted near Paddington Station.
Canary Wharf
Gillie and Marc Schattner are probably best known for their Dogman and Rabbitwoman statues.
Spitalfields
The Herd of Hope is a family of 21 life-sized bronze elephants roaming around Spitalfields Market. Created by Gillie and Marc, each sculpture is modelled on real-life orphans to heighten awareness of Africa's endangered elephants and raise funds for the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
The goat standing on packing cases by Scottish sculptor Kenny Hunter won the Spitalfields Sculpture Prize in 2010. Unlike the Gillie and Marc animals, this statue is permanent.
Knightsbridge
Rhino Sospeso by Stephano Bombardieri has hung above Samer Halimeh jewellers for some time having previously appeared in other locations around Europe. Halimeh's customers are invited to make donations to the WWF Save the Rhino fund which, if you can afford their bling, should be no problem.
Reading
Although not strictly in London, Reading is now on the Elizabeth Line so comes under TFL (Transport for London). And this animal statue is a gem .....
Reading's Maiwand Lion in Forbury Gardens commemorates the loss of almost 300 soldiers from the Royal Berkshire Regiment in the 1880 Battle of Maiwand in Afghanistan. Arthur Conan Doyle based Doctor Watson on the regiment's medical officer, Major A F Preston, who was injured in the battle. The lion is one of the world's largest cast iron statues. It features on Reading FC's club badge. They are nicknamed The Royals.
Holborn
Wetherspoons Shakespeare's Head is on the ground floor of the resplendent Africa House, built in the early 1920s as headquarters of the African and Eastern Trade Corporation. The building's neoclassical style has a fluted Doric screen with a triumphal arch entrance surmounted by lions couchant. A feature of the upper floors is an entablature with deep mutule cornice below a pediment of carved figures and wild animals (I can Google!)
Greenwich
On a plinth, close to the National Maritime Museum is a sculpture of a dead parrot. Bereft of life, it rests in peace; it is an ex-parrot. Created by John Reardon in 2009, the work was (maybe) inspired by the classic Monty Python sketch although this is obviously a cockatoo rather than a Norwegian Blue.
The Ducking Duck weather vane above Vanburgh Castle in Greenwich is a play on the name of Alexander Duckham who once lived there. The English chemist was best known for the development of mechanical lubricants, notably Duckhams Oil.
Parliament Square
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