London Pride
The 10,000 Lions of London

London is unique in the number and variety of its lion statues. If you ask Londoners how many such lions they think there are, they usually say, 'There are four in Trafalgar Square' and they pause . . . then 'Oh yes, there's also one by Westminster Bridge.' In fact there are many thousands more, from the oldest (on the York Watergate) and snootiest (guarding the Montague Place entrance to the British Museum) to the cheekiest (perched on Britannia's helmet in Gresham Street) and saddest (at Black Lion Lane in Hammersmith). Here with a very British kind of composed eccentricity is an account of some of these lions, dividing them into categories, and listing in an appendix, by London Borough, the roads where over ten thousand lions the author has identified are to be found.

This book will prompt readers to keep an eye out for lions in London's streets, and to observe much more closely the details of the capital's wonderfully varied architecture. A lion safari in London can be far the most satisfying sort: in a half-hour's walk you are virtually certain to find many varieties of the species. And London's lions, far from being disturbed by the attention, are after all intended to meet our gaze.

Contents

Introduction

1. London's Really Big Lions

2. Lions All Round London!

3. London's Oldest and Newest Lions

4. The Lion as Guardian

5. Lions' Heads

6. Lions with Britannia

7. Winged Lions

8. Lions on Plaques and in Relief

9. Lions in Coats of Arms

10. Lions of Many Colours

11. Lions in Odd Places or doing Odd Things

Tailpiece

Appendix: Location of London's Lions

I first became interested in London's lions following a holiday visit to the town of Piran on the Istrian coast of Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia). A guide explained that as this had once been part of the Venetian Empire, the Venetians had placed their winged lion of St Mark on the buildings, but when the Turks took over they decided to destroy these Venetian symbols. However, they did not do a very thorough job and tended to destroy just those at eye level. If one looked higher up on the buildings one could often still catch sight of a proud Venetian lion. So it became a holiday game to spot the lions that the Turks had missed! When I came back to London, and work, I soon forgot about these lions until one morning, driving along Regent Street, I encountered severe traffic congestion and came to a complete halt. Idly, my eye travelled up the building to my left - and there gazing out at me was a lion's head. I looked to the right and there was another one. When the traffic moved a few yards I looked again and found some more. I then recalled the holiday game and searched the adjacent buildings whenever the traffic came to a halt. From that time on, I was hooked and I deliberately varied my journey home that day to hunt for more lions.



I subsequently began to search for London's lions more systematically, going to each borough in turn. I found the first couple of thousand very quickly - and decided quite arbitrarily that I would see if I could find ten thousand in the London pride. I reached seven thousand within about five years but then not only found it more difficult to locate new ones but other things intervened in my life which left me little time for lion-hunting. But I continued to look actively whenever I could and always kept my eyes open for more, especially if in less familiar parts of London. My niece and nephew and various friends kindly reported whenever they chanced to spot any too. So at last I found my ten thousand - or ten thousand and twenty-two to be precise. I am sure there are more - probably, I would guess, around eleven thousand in all.



London is by no means unique in having lions in its streets. Many cities have them. Indeed, the ancient Greeks and Romans used to adorn their buildings and monuments with lions, and many have survived to this day, sometimes in situ; more often in museums. Before them the Etruscans and the ancient Egyptians sometimes placed lions in, or on, tombs - and there is an echo of that in some London cemeteries today, especially Victorian ones, where one can still encounter a mournful lion guarding a tomb. In the Far East, lions traditionally guard the entrance to temples - and again there is a parallel in that London householders sometimes place guardian lions outside their homes. Nearer home, Paris, Rome and Venice all boast numerous lions as well as other British cities such as Cardiff and Manchester. Indeed, some cities have gone further and adopted the lion as their emblem - cities as diverse as Bonn, Jerusalem and Zurich.



However, London is unique in the number and variety of its lions. In Venice most of the lions are winged, because the winged lion was the emblem of St Mark, the patron saint of the city. In Paris, many of the lions date from about the same time as each other and tend to be rather lookalikes. The photos in this book illustrate the many different kinds of London lion with their rich variety of expressions - some are gentle-looking creatures who sit in quiet reflective dignity; some bare their teeth menacingly at the heedless passers-by; some gaze mournfully at the changing London scene.