Temple Bar Memorial
London England
2012

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Bar,_London

Temple Bar was the principal ceremonial entrance to the City of London from the City of Westminster. In the middle ages, London expanded city jurisdiction beyond its walls to gates, called ‘bars’, which were erected across thoroughfares. To the west of the City of London, the bar was located adjacent to the area known as the Temple. Temple Bar was situated on the historic royal ceremonial route from the Tower of London to the Palace of Westminster, the two chief residences of the medieval English monarchs, and from the Palace of Westminster to St Paul's Cathedral. The road east of the bar within the City was Fleet Street, while the road to the west, in Westminster, was The Strand.


"Some authorities believe that the griffin which adorns Temple Bar is a copy of the Welsh dragon. It is Said to be Curiously like it."
Yorkshire Evening Post - Tuesday 01 March 1898

Following the removal of Wren's gate, Horace Jones, Architect and Surveyor to the City of London, designed a memorial to mark Temple Bar, which was unveiled in 1880. The Temple Bar Memorial stands in front of the Royal Courts of Justice.

The elaborate pedestal in a neo-Renaissance style serves as the base for a sculpture by Charles Bell Birch of a dragon supporter (sometimes erroneously referred to as a griffin) bearing a shield of the arms of the City of London. The pedestal is decorated with statues by Joseph Boehm of Queen Victoria and her son the Prince of Wales, the last royals to have entered the City through Wren's gate, which event is depicted in one of the reliefs which also decorate the structure.

In the 1960s, similar but smaller and more subdued dragon sculptures were set at other entry points to the City. Two were originally created in 1849 by J. B. Bunning for the entrance to the Coal Exchange (and were relocated to Victoria Embankment following that building's demolition in 1962), while the others are smaller-scale versions of Bunning's design.