THE LIONS OF LADYWOOD

The iconic concrete lions, signifier of power, wealth and suburban life.

Alert for battle. Ready to be tested. Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough. The lions of Ladywood are always on duty. These concrete defenders of private territory are a proud marker, a line on the paving slabs. Historically these beasts might have been a symbol of wealth, prosperity and power, but those of you undertaking an urban safari today will know they are to be spotted all over, from suburban cul-de-sacs, to leafy London streets, and in the featured photograph, the inner-city borderlands of Ladywood, Birmingham. Staking across the freshly-mown urban plains I spotted them, in their natural habitat, with a fresh coat of white paint, sitting alongside spikes sharp enough to impale any invader.

This 1960s council estate has seen historically high levels of crime, in particular assault and robbery. It’s a neighbourhood characterised by tower blocks and low rise modernist terraces, like the one pictured. Perhaps not the first place you’d expect to stumble across our regal big-cat friends. But mass production has made the stonemason redundant, Amazon craftsmanship. And so, we witness the evolution of the gatepost lion into a non-exclusive statement of status, accessible to and aspirational for all.

Some may cry tacky, but make no mistake, these icons of the built environment are undeniably prouder and more powerful than your average fence post, demanding respect from delivery drivers and would be burglars. Across the world the domestic lion statue has come to symbolise peace, prosperity and honour, but beyond those worthy values, they seem, predominantly, to indicate an aristocratic desire, a ‘look-at-my-palace’ swagger…

…Swagger that comes with some danger. Wild animals are not to be trusted.

A broken collar bone was the result of a long running planning dispute between Edward Packer and Bristol Council in the UK in 2013. “An Englishman's home is supposed to be his castle” declared the amateur lion tamer (and professional property developer) Packer whilst the proceedings continued. “Well, I live in a castle but it doesn't feel that way after seeing these officials come up here and tell me to take my pillars down”. The pair of 12 foot high, £15,000 pillars, together with their golden lions, were deemed to be ‘out of keeping’ with the local upmarket area of Sneyd Park. After losing the case the property developer had no choice but to take out his jack-hammer to remove the offending entrance, only to fall and injure himself. “I wish I had never built the pillars in the first place”, declared the wounded man.

The council defended their decision, citing 5 complaints from members of the public. An unfortunate end for two proud lions, who lived on, only behind the garden wall, hidden from view, out of sight and mind, the area safely restored to it’s former perceived glory, free from gaudiness. Perhaps a response to and rejection of the mass adoption of our feline pals. Once the lions filtered down as far as Ladywood, Sneyd Park turned against them. Questions of taste and aesthetic appeal remain high in the mind of would-be statue owners and their landscape architects on the other side of the pond too…

“Where do you think you live? Graceland? The New York Public Library?”

Wall Street Journal Article, 2020

So went the first line of a 2020 Wall Street Journal article that pitched 2 professional designers against each other, challenging them to debate the pros and cons of lions as decoration. On the pro side of the argument designer Mario Nievera pitched a formula for the perfect lion - your animal should be no higher than a third of the door and the plinth no higher than half the height of the statue. A rather modest, restrained approach to something so bold, ostentation apparently reduced in parallel with size. “It’s laughable and embarrassing” declared designer Jessica Lagrange.

Regardless of the size and plinth style a lion is a power play. An extra guard-dog, protector of what lies within. An iconic urban symbol for those concerned with defending their defensible space.

In Birmingham the area of Ladywood is undergoing an extensive period of rejuvenation to improve the lives of it’s residents, with a masterplan for a new secondary school, shops, businesses and modern housing. The lions reign on and are allowed to remain, at least for now, and why not, after all, a person’s home is their castle.