What’s the oldest statue in London? We’ve made a graphic.
An unexpected discovery was made in 2021. A statue of King Alfred in Southwark was found to be older than the Great king himself. Sort of.
The statue in Trinity Church Square had long been considered of medieval antiquity. Then, restoration work by Heritage of London Trust found the the King’s lower regions were, in fact, Roman. Further research found that the King’s upper body, made of Coade Stone in the 18th century, had been grafted on to the legs of a Roman goddess, probably Aphrodite.
The discovery confirmed Alfred as London’s oldest outdoor statue… though only if you count partial statues. Which prompts a new question: what then is the oldest complete statue in London?
The answer is unsatisfyingly vague. It could perhaps be the likenesses of King Lud and his sons in the churchyard of Fleet Street’s St Dunstan-in-the-West, who cohabit the space with an equally ancient effigy of Elizabeth I (all created around 1586 as regal ornaments for Ludgate). Then again, there’s a mysterious ‘melancholy man‘ in Holland Park, of unknown origin, age and subject, who’s thought to be of similar vintage. Perhaps he’s melancholy because nobody gives him the recognition he deserves.
None of this matters tuppence, of course. We’re just grateful to have these near-500-year-old stone residents in our midst, whichever one is the oldest. That said, the subject is always intriguing, so we thought we’d put together a graphic showing the 15 oldest statues in London, sorted in order.
We’ve ignored statues in museums — otherwise, this would be full of overseas antiquities from the British Museum. The one exception is the Lumley Horseman at the Tower of London, because of its exceptional status as England’s earliest equestrian statue. We’ve also excluded busts, and tomb monuments (which would have included the 13th century knight effigies at Temple Church, for example).
It’s interesting to see so many characters make more than one appearance. Charles II, for example, appears four times, and his dad (Charles I) gets three entries. London’s oldest statue of a woman (if we exclude Aphrodite’s legs) is Elizabeth I, and she’s also the second oldest.
The statues inside Guildhall (including Elizabeth) can only be seen on special open days, but are included for their special character. We may be unaware of still older statues hidden in private buildings, so do shout in the comments if you know of any further senior citizens of the lithic persuasion.
