Other

Liberty's - weather vane - Mayflower

Site: Liberty's - weather vane - Mayflower (1 memorial)

W1, Great Marlborough Street

Brought to our attention by Londonist, the weather vane atop Liberty's represents the Mayflower.

Arthur Lasenby Liberty (1843 - 1917) opened his shop in Regent Street in 1875 and it rapidly expanded into neighbouring properties. As the Regency 99-year leases ended the whole of Regent Street was redeveloped with tight control exerted over the design of the buildings to ensure an impressive but harmonious whole. Liberty employed architects Edwin T. Hall and his son Edwn S.. They designed the Regent Street building in the required Imperial Edwardian style (Ornamental Passions have a page about that building) but rather let rip with the building in Great Marlborough Street which was not subject to the design rules, so they used a style very popular at the time - Tudor Revival. The timbers of two ships were used in the construction of the shop: HMS Impregnable (formerly HMS Howe) and HMS Hindustan. As far as we can see Liberty's no longer has a presence on Regent Street.

Why the Mayflower? The Tudor period is defined as Henry VII - Elizabeth I, that's 1485 -1603. The Mayflower sailed in 1620, during the reign of James I of England, so choosing that for the weathervane involved some date flexibility. Liberty's has always specialised in decorative imported goods, perhaps referenced by a ship of colonisation. We're struggling here.

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Liberty's - weather vane - Mayflower

Subjects commemorated i

The Sailing of the Mayflower

The ship that carried pilgrims from Britain to the New World. There were 102 ...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Arnold and Verna Rosen

Arnold and Verna Rosen

N16, Newington Green garden

From London Gardens Online: "The gardens ... were re-landscaped in 2004/5. Prior to this there were formal rose beds and shrubs, with two...

1 subject commemorated
Royal Free Hospital - original hospital frieze

Royal Free Hospital - original hospital frieze

NW3, Rowland Hill Street, Heath Strange Garden

On Fickr there is an excellent, but copyright, photo of the Hampstead General Hospital and there you can see this frieze in place above t...

1 subject commemorated
Bandstand - Southwark Park

Bandstand - Southwark Park

SE16, Southwark Park

Francis Fowke designed the buildings for the 1862 International Exhibition in South Kensington and also some of the items in the neighbou...

3 subjects commemorated, 3 creators
Sante Maria weather vane

Sante Maria weather vane

WC2, Temple Place, 2

Made of beaten copper.  War-damaged in 1944 it was restored and re-erected in 1950.

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Dr John Lettsom's house

Dr John Lettsom's house

NW1, Outer Circle, Royal College of Physicians

Sorry about the rubbish picture but this item is hidden away at the edge of the property, behind a car-park. Note: the house was at Grov...

3 subjects commemorated