LIONS

Feeding Time On The Embankment

On the riverside of the Albert Embankment there are a succession of adult, male lion heads that have mooring rings hanging from their mouths. The purpose of these lions is to act as a flood warning system. If the lions were observed to be drinking river water that meant that there was a real risk that the River Thames was soon going to flood central London.

Location: On the northern bank the heads run from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars Bridge. On the South Bank they extend from Vauxhall Bridge to County Hall.¹

¹. Most of the heads are made of oxidised copper. However, those nearest Vauxhall Bridge are carved from a granite-like stone. The material contains flecks of quartz. As a result, the stone lions look as though they have been wearing face glitter but have not yet managed to clear all of it off.

Sir John Gayer

While the merchant Sir John Gayer was travelling through the Syrian Desert he encountered a lion. The animal chose to walk past him. Gayer believed that he had a miraculous deliverance. He instituted the Lion Sermon, which is preached annually on 16 October.

Location: St Katharine Cree, 86 Leadenhall Street, EC3A 3BP (orange, brown)

Website: https://stkatharinecree.com https://stkatharinecree.com/what-is-on/371^st-lion-sermon-recorded-thursday-15^th-october-2020b

The Lion-Taming M.P.

John S. Clarke (1885-1959) sat a Labour M.P. from 1929 to 1931. In his late teens he had worked as a lion tamer in a circus.

See Also: THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

The 3^rd Earl of Peterborough

In the early 18^thC the 3^rd Earl of Peterborough had an estate in Fulham that was noted for its garden. The property is commemorated by numerous ornamental lions that decorate houses that were built on the land in the early 20^thC.

Location: Peterborough Road, SW6 3BY

Sophitolion

In 1969 John Rendall (d.2022) and Anthony Bourke, two young Australians, arrived in London. They acquired jobs in a Kings Road shop that sold pine furniture. They moved into a flat above the premises. The tourist sites that Aussies visited included the Harrods department store. While wandering through the pet department the pair noticed a young lion. They decided to buy him. Their employer had grown up in Kenya and so was receptive to the idea; the local Moravian church agreed that the animal could be exercised in its graveyard. Rendall and Bourke paid 250 guineas for the cub, whom they named Christian. When the shop was closed, he was allowed to wander around it.

Several months later the actors Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, who had starred in the movie Born Free (1966), visited the shop in order to buy a desk and met Christian. They suggested that it might be possible for the fast growing young lion to be rehabilitated to living in the wild. They put the Australians in touch with the gamekeeper George Adamson. Christian was shipped to Kenya, where he made a successful readjustment and proved to be able to live with wild lions. The change was not without its blind alleys; he took to stalking prey naturally, however, he did not initially realise that rhinoceroses were not quarry.

Location: Sophistocat, 473-475 The King's Road, SW10 0LU (blue, purple)

Website: www.alioncalledchristian.com.au

The South Bank Lion

Supervising Westminster Bridge is the South Bank Lion (1837), a statue that was made of Coade stone. Originally, the lion stood in front of the Lion Brewery. The complex was demolished in 1950. The beast then moved to Waterloo Station from whence it came in 1966.

Location: Westminster Bridge, SE1 7EH

David Backhouse 2024