Dragon boundary mark

One of the two original statues from the Coal Exchange, relocated to Victoria Embankment.

The dragon boundary marks are cast iron statues of dragons 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 its two rear legs, 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.

The design is based on two large dragon sculptures, 7 feet (210 cm) 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 London founder, Dewer, in 1849. The dragons were preserved when the Coal Exchange was demolished in 1962-3. The two original statutes were re-erected on 6 feet (180 cm) high plinths of Portland stone 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 statutes as the model for boundary markers for the city in 1964, in preference to the fiercer dragon by C.B. Birch at Temple Bar. 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.

References

• Public sculpture of the city of London; Philip Ward-Jackson; Liverpool University Press, 2003; ISBN 0853239770, p.422-3
• The London encyclopaedia; Christopher Hibbert, Ben Weinreb, Julia Keay, John Keay; Pan Macmillan, 2008; ISBN 1405049243, p.974
• City dragon, Save our Statues, Public Monuments and Sculpture Association

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  One of the two original statues from the Coal Exchange
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  Smaller replica version on Holborn
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  Dragon at Temple Bar, to a different design