Relief

Sun Fire Office

Site: Cornhill pump (5 memorials)

EC3, Cornhill

Around the top are some delightful reliefs in iron of the badges of early fire insurance companies: Sun, Phoenix, London and Royal Exchange. These are all crudely coloured with red, gold, blue.  See 'Also at this site'.

This water pump, designed by architect Nathaniel Wright, is Grade II listed, where it is described “Obelisk of cast iron with canted corners, slight decoration and long inscriptions. Granite trough probably of later date.” As you can see from our photos the pump is (2011) in a dreadful state of repair. Let's hope someone notices soon and perhaps the modern day equivalents of its original erectors will fund its restoration.

2015: prompted by Jon Pettigrew on Facebook we must report that the pump was indeed restored not long after we photographed it.  (Keeping London Remembers up-to-date could become a full-time job.)  But the splendid A London Inheritance has photographed it for us, and provided some earlier photos and history.

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:
Sun Fire Office

Subjects commemorated i

Sun Fire Office

Founded in London, now the oldest existing insurance company in the world.

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Sun Fire Office

Also at this site i

Cornhill pump

Cornhill pump

We understand "the neighbouring fire officers" to mean the four fire assuranc...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Stuart House - Mary arrives in Scotland by horse

Stuart House - Mary arrives in Scotland by horse

SW3, Cadogan Square, Stuart House, 84

This Queen Anne style house was designed in 1880 by architect F.G. Knight for Oscar Leslie Stephen, a director of the Great Northern Rail...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Mother and Children Playing

Mother and Children Playing

SW8, Fentiman Road, South Lambeth Estate

Both sculptures face north-west. In our photo, between the two buildings you can see the Footballers on the far block, Wareham House. The...

4 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Saville Theatre - Holmes

Saville Theatre - Holmes

WC2, Shaftesbury Avenue, Odeon Covent Garden

Ornamental Passions thinks this probably represents Tod Slaughter in the role, but we are not convinced. We can't find an image of Slaugh...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Resurgam

Resurgam

EC4, Cannon Street, St Paul's Cathedral

This phoenix represents the rebirth of the old Cathedral, lost in the Great Fire. Stones from the old building were used in the construct...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Infants Hospital - baby 4

Infants Hospital - baby 4

SW1, Udall Street

The two be-wreathed babies are on the building on the south-east side of the street, which was the 1914 nurses home; the others on the, p...