London abounds in statues. Wander the streets in any part of the city and you’ll find carved men, women and animals, varying in age, role, position and permanence.
Head of invention, Design Centre 
Isaac Newton, British Library 
Carreras Cigarette Factory, Camden 
Eros, Piccadilly Circus 
Fourth Plinth 2016-2018 
St Paul 
St Pancras Station 
Royal Academy 
Fourth Plinth 2018 – present 
Paddington Station 2018 
Alien, Euston Road 
Robert Scott, Waterloo Place 
Dragon, Temple Bar 
Queen Victoria 
Kew Gardens 
Kew Gardens 
Elephant & Castle 
“Temple” 2017 near Leadenhall Market
There are over 400 statues in the City of Westminster alone. In fact, Westminster City Council has designated the area from Whitehall to St James’s as a “monument saturation zone”, where the addition of new memorials is actively discouraged.
I wander past sculptures with barely a glance, and even if I look at the name I often have no idea what they did, or when. I’ve decided I need to make a point of learning about one statue seen per visit in London!
Now, I doubt that I’ll stick to that resolution, but let’s kick off with a fellow I spotted down on the embankment a while ago.
Oooops – sometimes the important element of a photo escapes me!
This stately sculpture is of Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere (1815 – 1884). He was a British colonial administrator, who had a successful career in India, being Governor of Bombay for 5 years, followed by being High Commissioner for Southern Africa.
Things didn’t go so well for him there. His policies to impose a British confederation on the region caused uprisings, battles and regional wars, including the Anglo-Zulu War and the First Boer War. In 1880, Gladstone recalled him to London to face charges of misconduct. Frere was planning a full response to all of the charges against him, but died before that could take place. He is buried at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Copyright Debbie Smyth, 23 May 2020
Posted as part of Saturday Sculpture
Travel with Intent 
I thought I knew my London statuary, but clearly not. The one outside Leadenhall Market has a female counterpart at the Yorkshire Scupture Park I think. They’re very much in the same idiom. So that’s one more woman in a poorly-represented field.
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It’s amazing how many there are when you take the time and look around. I’m sure I’ve walked past some of these without seeing them. Thank you for sharing.
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Fabulous collection Debbie!
Looking forward to your resolve to collect one statue per visit – we get to visit along with it!
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Did you less than 25% of all statutes in the UK are of women, and of those most are nameless 😦
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If I’d had to guess I would probably have gone lower! Sad, but not surprising 😦
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A wonderful array of statues, Debbie. I need to visit London again…………one day. 😯
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I recognised all but two of these and thanks for reminding me of the black cat statue at the Carreras cigarette factory. I’d completely forgotten that one.
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Yes, I must go and visit it again – it is a delight and rather off the beaten tourist track
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I used to live near there and passed it daily on my way to catch the bus to work.
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Wonderful. That would brighten any walk to work.
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Such a fantastic array of sculptures!
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Amazing the volume of public art available.
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wow, amazing. I love sculptures of all kinds
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Wonderful Debbie, I would like to see more
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I’ll see what I can do. I might do a gallery for different cities. When I was digging these out, I kept coming across Barcelona statues so that might be next! And I’ll be sure to do some more of London. Have a good weekend, Brian
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I might do a hunt around as well. I wonder how it would go as a photo challenge series. Weekend has been fab so far. The cold weather has arrived. Have a wonderful weekend yourself Debbie
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Could work well as a challenge. We could both agree on a city for next Saturday and both post our collection – and see is anyone seems interested?
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In fact, statues might be a bit limiting, but we could call it just “How many?”
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