South Bank Lion

The South Bank Lion is one of London's most recognisable public sculptures, standing guard at the southern end of Westminster Bridge on the Thames riverbank. Cast in Coade stone, a remarkably durable artificial material manufactured nearby in Lambeth during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the lion was originally made for the Lion Brewery that once occupied the South Bank site. When the brewery was demolished to make way for the Festival of Britain in 1951, the lion was preserved and eventually relocated to its current position, where it has become a landmark in its own right.

The sculpture sits at the gateway to a stretch of the South Bank that takes in the London Eye, the Southbank Centre, and the Palace of Westminster across the river. Visitors joining the Big Bus London Evening Bus Tour pass through this part of the city as the lights of Westminster and the Thames bridges come into their own after dark, making the lion a natural starting point for exploring the capital by night.