S. T. {between and slightly above these letters is a Greek cross.}
This is Bagnigge House. Neare the Pindera Wakefeilde, 1680.
This plaque apparently was removed from the house when it was demolished; Ornamental Passions says it came off a garden entrance. The face above is keystone-shaped and could have ornamented a gateway. We have found no explanation for the "S. T." and cross. The Pinder of Wakefield was a noted local inn. "Pinder" means "keeper of a pound". The Pinder of Wakefield is a character who appears in ballads and plays and Wikipedia.
2022: From Leeds's Singing Organ-Grinder: The 'ST' probably refers to the London goldsmith Simon Thriscrosse who seems to have built the house in around 1680. That site has a number of early images of this head and stone.
The text on the stone seems odd to us. Why give directions for finding Bagnigge House (near the Pinder of Wakefield) on the stone at Bagnigge House? Once you are at the house you no longer need directions for finding it.
Site: Bagnigge House (1 memorial)
WC1, King's Cross Road, 61-63
Our colleague, Ruth Richardson, writes: A drawing of this appeared in ‘The Builder’, and as a result a lot of things happened, including, I think, the plaque movement as a whole, and eventually the foundation of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, because William Morris was a reader of the Builder at that time! Ruth has written an article about this, in the journal ‘Visual Resources’, vol. 6 (1989):121-140, called: ‘George Godwin of The Builder’.
