ANIMAL STATUES IN LONDON 6

 

Animal Statues in London 6

Twickenham Stadium

      The golden lion that is now above the entrance of the West Stand stood in front of the Lion Brewery from 1837 to 1948. It was preserved when the brewery was closed for the building of the Royal Festival Hall, as was the lion now standing on Westminster Bridge .....

Old Ryde House, Twickenham

      Almost obscured by trees, this eagle stands above the entrance to Old Ryde House, built in the 1830s.

Imperial College

      Two of four lions couchant (1893, Harry Dixon) which originally stood at the former Imperial Institute. This pair are at foot of Imperial's Queen's Tower (encased in scaffolding); the other two are in Clarence House gardens.

Whitehall Place

      These animal reliefs on 4 Whitehall Place are the legacy of what was the government  department of Agriculture and Sea and Fisheries. It is now the offices of the Department for Energy, Security & Net Zero headed by Ed Milliband. 

       The building was the original home of Scotland Yard, headquarters of the Metropolitan Police. It had a public entrance on the other side of the building in Great Scotland Yard. Since then, the Met have moved several times, but have stuck with New Scotland Yard as the name of their HQ.

     If you look up your can find plenty more animals in Westminster; the lion's share being lions .....

                                  ..... and there are also some real animals in these parts .....

 

The Mall

     This bronze winged horse tops the Royal Artillery Boer War Memorial. Unveiled in 1910, it represents the Spirit of War being calmed by a winged personification of Peace holding an olive branch.

     Such is the magnificence of the Victoria Memorial, it's easy to miss the four lions surrounding it .....

     The whole memorial, including the lions, was sculpted by Sir Thomas Brock. When it was unveiled in 1911, King George V was so moved he called for a sword and knighted the sculptor on the spot.

      The lions represent Peace (a female holding an olive branch), Progress (a youth holding a torch), Agriculture (a woman with a sickle and sheaf of corn) and Manufacture (a blacksmith with a hammer and scroll). The bases of the last two groups are inscribed with The Gift of New Zealand. This (belatedly) recognised the £25,000 contribution made by the New Zealand government after they had complained gates had been named after Canada and Australia.

     Almost unnoticed, other animal statues, including more lions, can be found around Buckingham Palace .....

Curzon Street

      27 Curzon Street was once Aspinall's private members gambling club. Founder John Aspinall used the proceeds from his clubs to fund Howletts and Port Lymphe - his two animal parks in Kent. The casino is now Wynn Mayfair but Aspinall's bronze elephant statue remains. The house was originally the property of the Curzon family. Lady Sally Curzon, who died in June 2025 aged 80, was the widow of racing driver Piers Courage, and Aspinall's third wife.

Piccadilly

          ..... this is above the Burlington Arcade (click here for more).

Covent Garden

     The Conversion of St Paul (Bruce Denny) stands in St Paul's churchyard. 

      "And as Saul journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." ACTS 9:3

     It is generally assumed St Paul fell from his horse although there's no mention of one in the Bible.

     The statue was unveiled in 2010 by Judi Dench to mark the tercentenary of the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral.

     St Paul's Church is nicknamed the Actors Church - it is well worth a visit for the many memorial plaques dedicated to famous entertainers (click here for more). 

Tottenham

      The Skeleton Horse of Tottenham is a wooden sculpture in Chestnuts Park. It was designed and constructed in 2005 by artist Ann Carrington together with local residents and school children. The statue was inspired by the story of an actual horse skeleton that once stood nearby .....

     .... originally alongside Turner's blacksmith's shop (c.1885) and later (c.1895) high above Coleman's undertakers in Tottenham High Street.

Shenstone Park, Crayford

     This quartet of cows by Mor hark back to the days when Crayford was a leader in the textile industry, especially silk printing. Here, red dye was made from the roots of the madder plant. Washing the silk in cow dung fixed the dye, ensuring the colours remained vibrant.

Erith Roundabout

     There's a roundabout at each end of Bronze Age Way, a dual carriageway that runs between Erith and Belvedere. The colourful De Luci (dancing) Pike mosaic by Gary Drostle was inspired by the coat of arms, incorporating three pikes, of the De Luci family who were landowners in medieval Erith. Sadly, part of the sculpture has broken off leaving two-and-a-half pikes which sounds like a something you would associate with Olympic diving.

Belvedere

     Two minutes up the road, in the middle of Horse Roundabout, The Cob must be the largest of the many horse statues I've discovered. The galvanised steel structure is six metres high and the work of Andy Scott. The artist took the best part of a year in his Glasgow studio to create it. As equines are traditionally measured in 'hands' I calculate this one is 59 hands. A cob is typically 13-16 hands. 

     On the day it was completed, a man in a cob-drawn trap turned up unannounced and rode round the roundabout.

Camden Town

     Elephant House is a Grade II listed building on Kentish Town Road. It was originally the bottle store of the Camden Brewery which traded from 1859-1926. The elephant became their trademark after Elephant Pale Ale, one of their most popular tipples. The terracotta motif is above the main entrance. Not so obvious are the small elephant heads which top the railings.

     Hape, in Castlehaven Road, is the work of acclaimed artist Ronzo. As always, there's plenty more good - and ever-changing - street art to see in Camden Town .....

 

 

      In Camden Town you're never far away from a portrait of a pop icon, especially local lady Amy Winehouse.

     Taking its name from the George Harrison song, Give Me Love is a Hare Krishna centre and charity shop which opened in 2024. Profits go to Food for All which provides free meals for the needy.

Fiveways Corner

     Civid Pride (geddit?) are four bronze statues in Hendon by sculptor David Annand. They were commissioned in 2001 by the Highways Authority and are located around the very busy Great North Road junction which sits under the M1 flyover. They are mounted on steel poles to ensure they don't obstruct the vision of the herds of motorists swarming around this concrete watering-hole. The three lionesses have different heads but their bodies are identical, having been made from the same cast.

      Apart from the statues, the only thing of interest in these parts is the RAF Museum. If you borrowed one of their helicopters, it would be very close. But there's the small matter of the M1 and main line railway between the museum and Fiveways Corner. So (if you can find the subway and footbridge) there's a mile between them on foot - and two congested  miles by road. Even if it is in the ULEZ zone, it's not a place I'd recommend for a picnic.