Relief

London Assurance

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.

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
London Assurance

Subjects commemorated i

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
London Assurance

Also at this site i

Cornhill pump

Cornhill pump

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

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Nearby Memorials

St John's Primary School - rebuilt

St John's Primary School - rebuilt

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Our research into the history of the school convinces us that the blank section of ribbon must have read "Christ Church" which was the sc...

1 subject commemorated
Lloyds of London 1958 building

Lloyds of London 1958 building

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Phillip Ward-Jackson in his encyclopaedic "Public Sculpture in the City of London" identifies these reliefs as representing the four elem...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
1 Poultry - Frieze D - Victoria

1 Poultry - Frieze D - Victoria

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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
Sir Jacob Epstein - Roper's Garden

Sir Jacob Epstein - Roper's Garden

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The text is inscribed on the reverse of the relief.

2 subjects commemorated, 3 creators
RIBA - Sir Christopher Wren

RIBA - Sir Christopher Wren

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On the Weymouth Street facade there are 5 figures carved in relief by Copnall. They are unlabelled but one can tell that they represent,...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator