The Coade Stone Lion — Lambeth's Riverside Guardian
The South Bank Lion is a thirteen-tonne ceramic statue made of durable Coade stone, located at the south end of Westminster Bridge in London. Sculpted by William Frederick Woodington in 1837 for the Lion Brewery, the sculpture survived the Blitz and was saved by King George VI during a 1949 demolition. Inside its back rests a time capsule containing historical coins and a business trade card.
London · from the walk “Bones, Gardens & Gates: The Lambeth Riverside” · audio ~4 min · Generated
South end of Westminster Bridge, Albert Embankment, London SE1
- Sculptor William Frederick Woodington created the thirteen-tonne South Bank Lion in 1837 for Goding's Lion Brewery.
- Eleanor Coade established her Lambeth artificial stone factory, keeping her durable ceramic formula a secret until 1991.
- King George VI personally stepped in to save the South Bank Lion when the brewery was demolished in 1949.
- A time capsule hidden inside the South Bank Lion contains coins from 1837 and 1966 alongside a trade card.
What is the South Bank Lion at Westminster Bridge made of?
Look at this magnificent beast! Thirteen tonnes of gleaming white stone, gazing out from the south end of Westminster Bridge. The South Bank Lion is an eighteen thirty-seven sculpture — and despite being nearly two centuries old, it looks as though it were carved yesterday. That's because it's Not carved from stone at all.......... What IS it made of, then? Something called Coade stone... not really stone at all, but actually a ceramic material — a fortified clay — a formula of clay, flint, terra cotta, quartz, and glass. And here's where the story connects directly back to Lambeth, where you're walking today. Eleanor Coade bought Daniel Pincot's struggling artificial stone business at King's Arms Stairs, Narrow Wall, Lambeth — a site now buried beneath the Royal Festival Hall, just upstream from where we're standing.......... Eleanor Coade was a Remarkable woman. A highly successful Georgian craftswoman and businesswoman, at a time when industry was totally dominated by men, she ran her own business. Born in Exeter in seventeen thirty-three, she never married, recognizing the business value of remaining a femme sole — a legally independent woman. Within two years she sacked Pincot for representing himself as the chief proprietor... and took over completely. By the end of the seventeen eighties, she had established a near-monopoly in the artificial stone market.......... The recipe and the production process were both closely guarded secrets, and they remained a mystery until... nineteen ninety-one, when the recipe was finally revealed. Each piece was fired for four days in a coal-powered kiln, watched over closely at all times.......... Now... this lion. Next to the Coade factory was the Lion Brewery, owned by James Goding, and in eighteen thirty-seven he commissioned the sculptor William Frederick Woodington to sculpt a pair of lions to adorn his brewery. The larger of the two was painted red and mounted on top of the brewery facing the Thames, and became a landmark for the area.......... Then came the Blitz... and the lion perched on that rooftop took on a life of its own. There was a saying that "so long as the lion stands, London will stand." And London stood... as did the lion.......... When the brewery was demolished in nineteen forty-nine, the lion was in trouble, and the only reason it's here today is because King George the Sixth stepped in to make sure it was saved. Workers repairing it made a surprising discovery — inside a recess in its back, they found a bottle containing two William the Fourth coins and a Coade trade card. A time capsule, hidden since eighteen thirty-seven!......... In nineteen sixty-six, when the lion was moved again, the time capsule was updated — a nineteen sixty-six coin was added, along with a copy of the Glc Chairman's letter. So somewhere inside this lion's back, Right Now, there are relics spanning over a hundred and eighty years.......... One more thing to notice — the South Bank Lion no longer gazes over the Thames, having been positioned with a view of the road instead. A pity, perhaps. But remember — the tomb of Admiral Bligh in Saint Mary's Churchyard in Lambeth was Also made of Coade stone, from the very same factory. So as you continue your walk through these gardens, you're tracing the footsteps of Eleanor Coade's extraordinary legacy... one that has outlasted empires.
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