James Woodford

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James Woodford (1893 – 1976) was an English sculptor from Nottingham. His father was a lace designer. Woodford started studying at the Nottingham School of Art, but enlisted during the First World War. After the war, he continued his training at the Royal College of Art in London.

The Queen's Beasts are heraldic symbols depicting animals traditionally associated with British royal family. In 1953, a set of six-foot (1.83 m) high statues by sculptor James Woodford was placed at the entrance of Westminster Abbey for the coronation ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II.

Today, in the Kew Gardens, between the Palm House and the Pond, standing over the Palm House terrace, are the Queen's Beasts. These ten heraldic figures are Portland stone replicas of those which stood at Westminster Abbey during the coronation of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II. By the same sculptor, the late James Woodford, they were presented anonymously to the gardens in 1956.

The beasts, selected from the armorial bearings of many of the Queen's forbears, illustrate her royal lineage. From right to left, seen with the Pond behind the onlooker, they are:- • The Falcon of the Plantagenets • The Black Bull of Clarence • The Griffin of Edward III • The Unicorn of Scotland • The White Lion of Mortimer • The Lion of England • The White Horse of Hanover • The Red Dragon of Wales • The Yale of Beaufort • The White Greyhound of Richmond

[edit] References

• Public Sculpture of the City of London, Philip Ward-Jackson, Liverpool University Press 2003, ISBN 0853239770, page 485.