Relief

Lloyds of London 1958 building

Inscription

{At bottom right:}
James Woodford R.A.

Phillip Ward-Jackson in his encyclopaedic "Public Sculpture in the City of London" identifies these reliefs as representing the four elements, clockwise from top left: Fire, Air, Earth, Water. In Water the female figure rings the Lutine Bell, which actually happens in Lloyd of London whenever a ship goes down (although the ringer is probably a man with more clothes on). There were 85 other (smaller) pieces of Woodford's work on this building. Let's hope they also have been rescued and are perhaps on display inside the Willis building.

Site: Lloyds of London 1958 building (1 memorial)

EC3, Gracechurch Street

From Wikipedia "In the 1950s Woodford made a set of reliefs representing the four elements for the Lloyds building in Lime Street in the City of London. They were placed very high up; Arthur Byron in "London's Statues" describes them as "barely visible."[7] Following the demolition of the building they were installed on a wall at street level as part of the landscaping of the Willis Building on the same site."

2023: The Guardian reported: "The insurance titan Lloyd’s of London, multibillion pound cornerstone of the City’s wealth, power and renown, has taken steps since 2020 to admit its immense historic involvement in slavery, and has published powerful research on the evidence in its archives."

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Lloyds of London 1958 building

Subjects commemorated i

Lloyd's of London 1958 building

Occupied the Lime Street, Billiter Street and Fenchurch Avenue block. The sec...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Lloyds of London 1958 building

Created by i

James Woodford

Sculptor,RA. James Arthur Woodford, born Nottingham. There are some lovely ex...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Hungarian uprising

Hungarian uprising

SW7, Exhibition Road, 55

In memory of the victims of the Hungarian uprising of 1956.

1 subject commemorated
George Ryan at Nelson's Column

George Ryan at Nelson's Column

WC2, Trafalgar Square

This relief is "The Death of Nelson" by J. E. Carew, on the front (south) face of the base of Nelson's Column. It depicts a scene at the ...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
1 Poultry - Frieze C - Charles II

1 Poultry - Frieze C - Charles II

EC2, Poultry, 1

Number One Poultry, built in 1995 in a post-modern style, and voted by Time Out readers the fifth worst building in London. Designed by t...

1 subject commemorated, 4 creators
Cardinal Griffin School crest

Cardinal Griffin School crest

E14, Canton Street, Church Green

Presumably Da Mihi Animas was the school moto, Latin for 'Give me souls'.  Love the cardinal's hat at the top.

1 subject commemorated
Sir Leonard Hutton - brick sculpture

Sir Leonard Hutton - brick sculpture

SE11, Kennington Oval, John Edrich Gate

Unveiled by Hutton's widow.

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators