Sculpture

Carved mice

Erection date: 1862

Cabbies are attempting to propagate a myth that these mice commemorate two builders who died while working on the nearby Monument.  We can find no reputable evidence for this (and we well remember the stories that cabbies spread about one of the Noses of Soho being in honour of Wellington). Why would the Victorians who put up this building want to commemorate two dead construction workers from the 17th century? How did they even know of their existence? Is this the type of memorial for which the Victorians are renowned (compare and contrast the Albert Memorial)? So it's still an open question why these mice are here, and what, if anything, they commemorate.

Site: Mice and shells (2 memorials)

EC3, Philpot Lane, 13

The mice are at ground floor cornice level at the juncture between number 13 Philpot Lane (Jamies) and 23 Eastcheap (Caffe Nero). The shells are on number 13, below the ground floor cornice. Italian gothic in style, the two addresses are parts of the same, listed, building. Geograph has a fine photo and architectural appreciation and says "It was built in 1861-62 as offices and warehousing for Messrs Hunt & Crombie, spice merchants. The architects were John Young & Sons." Which confirms the contents of two of the shells, and we have no reason to doubt the third.

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

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Carved mice

Also at this site i

Shells

Shells

This type of information is not normally recorded on this type of building. ...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Artillery - cannons

Artillery - cannons

SW1, Artillery Row, Artillery House

Admiring these charming toy-like cannons we realised they could be taken as a memorial to the use of this site for firing practice.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Michael Faraday memorial - substation

Michael Faraday memorial - substation

SE1, Elephant and Castle roundabout

This shiny steel box contains an electricity substation for the Bakerloo and Northern lines, but it is also a memorial to Michael Faraday...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Roman boat - Guys Cancer Centre

Roman boat - Guys Cancer Centre

SE1, Great Maze Pond, Guy's Cancer Centre

A boat or a particularly vicious knuckle-duster? We have assumed that the Boat was erected/unveiled on the day that the building was ope...

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
St Olav's Church - Seafarers' memorial

St Olav's Church - Seafarers' memorial

SE16, St Olav's Square, St Olav's Church

To us this is a rather eerie-looking seafarer. A colleague informs us that the Norwegian inscription translates as 'In memory of our nava...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Fame - from Poets’ Fountain

Fame - from Poets’ Fountain

S21, Renishaw, Renishaw Hall

The statue glistens with recent gilding. This was first done in 2002 in honour of the Golden Jubilee, by Lady Sitwell (1923 - ), the moth...

4 creators

Previously viewed

Incorporated Society of Musicians - London Section
2 memorials
John Bigge
War dead, WW1
1 memorial