The dragon boundary marks are cast iron statues of

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

s (sometimes mistaken for

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

s) on metal or stone plinths that mark the boundaries of the City of London. The dragons are painted silver, with details of their wings and tongue picked out in red. The dragon stands on one rear leg, the other lifted against a shield, with the right foreleg raised and the left foreleg holding a shield which bears the City of London's coat of arms, painted in red and white. This stance is the equivalent of the rampant heraldic attitude of the

supporters In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the Escutcheon (heraldry), shield and depicted holding it up. Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. H ...

of the City's arms.

Design

The design is based on two large dragon sculptures, high, which were mounted above the entrance to the Coal Exchange on Lower Thames Street, designed by the City Architect, J. B. Bunning, and made by the London founder Dewer in 1849. The dragons were preserved when the Coal Exchange was demolished in 1962–63. The two original statues were re-erected on high plinths of

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

at the western boundary of the City, by Temple Gardens on Victoria Embankment, in October 1963. The Corporation of London's Streets Committee selected the statues as the model for boundary markers for the city in 1964, in preference to the fiercer dragon by

C. B. Birch Charles Bell Birch (28 September 1832 – 16 October 1893) was a British sculptor. Biography Birch was born at Brixton in south London, the son of the author and translator Jonathan Birch (translator), Jonathan Birch (1783–1847) and his wif ...

at Temple Bar on

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

. Half-size replicas of the original pair of dragons were made by Birmingham Guild Limited and erected at main entrances to the City of London in the late 1960s.

Locations

There are now thirteen dragons around the City of London. In addition to the Birch dragon at Temple Bar, and the two original Coal Exchange statues on Victoria Embankment, there are two replicas of the Coal Exchange design at the south end of

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

, two on High Holborn near Gray's Inn Road, and single replicas on

Aldgate High Street Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate gave its name to the Bishopsgate Ward of the City of London. The ward is traditionally divided into ''Bishopsgate Within'', inside the line wall, and ''Bishop ...

Byward Street Byward Street is a road in the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London. It forms part of the A3211 route and, if travelling eastward, is a short continuation of Lower Thames Street from a junction with Great Tower Street ...

, Moorgate,

Goswell Road Goswell Road, in Central London, is an end part of the A1. The southern part ends with one block, on the east side, in City of London; the rest is in the London Borough of Islington, the north end being Angel. It crosses Old Street/ Clerken ...

(north of Aldersgate Street), Farringdon Street, and at the south end of Blackfriars Bridge. Outside London, there is also a replica at Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where the 19th-century

was reconstructed in 1971.

Gallery

File:England_Dragon_statue.jpg, One of the two original 1849 statues from the Coal Exchange File:City_of_London_marker,_High_Holborn_WC2_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1318996.jpg, Smaller replica version on High Holborn, 1960s File:Temple-bar-griffin.jpg, Dragon at Temple Bar, to a different design by

, 1880 File:London Bridge, Lake Havasu City (6630236349).jpg, Example in Lake Havasu City, Arizona

References

Sources

* {{Public art in London, other works City of London Outdoor sculptures in London Buildings and structures in the City of London Iron sculptures in the United Kingdom 1849 sculptures Sculptures of dragons Victoria Embankment Cast-iron sculptures