Sculpture

Southwark Gateway Needle

Inscription

{No plaque that we could find.}

The inclined needle is made of Portland stone, 16m high. It won a Natural Stone Craftsmanship Award 2000. We could find no plaque and there is no pretty carving to photograph so for our close-up shot we have photographed the glass-covered cavity that holds the lighting, and a life-form that could have come from outer-space.

Site: Southwark Gateway Needle (1 memorial)

SE1, London Bridge

Although we can find no plaque or even official notice on-line, there seems to be general agreement that this Needle commemorates the spikes on London Bridge that used to bear the heads of those executed at the Tower of London. It was erected as part of the Southwark Gateway project by Eric Parry Architects. Picture of it being erected. The project included an "emblematic" Tourist Information Centre and we wonder if that is now (2012) occupied by Evans Cycles.

2016, but see 2024 below: The all-knowing Londonist has apparently solved the mystery of this spike. They have discovered that, in an article in the 2014 Fortean Times, the architects explain that it is a marker. "Tilted at 19.5 degrees to point down to a specific spot. Follow the trajectory of the needle downwards and it points to the riverside opposite the City church St Magus the Martyr. This is where the medieval London Bridge crossed the river." The point described is usefully marked with a plaque: Old London Bridge.

We can't see it ourselves. There are lots of angles on the thing but the only one that could be 19.5 degrees is that from the vertical. Surely if the needle is pointing anywhere it's into the sky?  Look at it in satellite view and you see its top is pointing south-west, while its lower end is pointing north-east on a trajectory that would cross the northern bank near Old Billingsgate, far east of the old London Bridge. Are we missing something?

We conclude that this is an aesthetically pleasing object that possibly commemorates the bridge in an indecipherably abstract way.

2024: José de Paiva of Eric Parry Architects wrote asking us to correct some information on this page.  He described the paragraph dated 2016 as: “fanciful and blatantly wrong. Eric Parry Architects have never made any such statements, which are nonsense. Please remove them.” Instead of removing the incorrect information we prefer to publish the correction, being the best way to prevent incorrect or inaccurate information spreading.

José de Paiva also commented on our two paragraphs above: “ We can’t see it ourselves...” and “We conclude…”. He writes “Your interpretation is correct.”

We are grateful to José de Paiva for taking the time to set the record straight.

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

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Southwark Gateway Needle

Subjects commemorated i

London Bridge

Four stone bridges have spanned the Thames at this point. The first was built...

Read More

London Bridge head spikes

Traitors’ heads used to be displayed on spikes on London Bridge, at the Stone...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Southwark Gateway Needle

Created by i

Nearby Memorials

Dogs of Alcibiades - south

Dogs of Alcibiades - south

E9, Victoria Park, Bonner Gate

Lady Regnart donated these statues in 1912 and her husband died in 1912 so, call us reckless, but we are assuming that the donation was i...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Reel sculpture - Gainsborough Film Studios

Reel sculpture - Gainsborough Film Studios

N1, Shoreditch Park

Commissioned by Hackney Council in 1996 when it was erected at the junction of Leonard Street and Paul Street, EC2. Some time July 2012 -...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Gatehouse Square, Southwark

Gatehouse Square, Southwark

SE1, Gatehouse Square, parking area to the south

The sculpture is titled "Great Oaks from Little Acorns".  From PMSA:"... holding her hands over an acorn which rests on the top of the wa...

3 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Cadiz Memorial

Cadiz Memorial

SW1, Horse Guards Parade

On their withdrawal the French deliberately destroyed their cannons. The Spanish must have retrieved and restored this mortar before pre...

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Millstream House - gargoyle

Millstream House - gargoyle

SE16, Jamaica Road, Millstream House

See the plaque at this site for more details.

1 subject commemorated

Previously viewed

Clive Richards

Clive Richards

N6, Archway Road

By the time we arrived, 6 days after the collision, the flowers had already gone and only this sad note was left.

2 subjects commemorated
Councillor's Walk

Councillor's Walk

N15, Tottenham Green

We've transcribed this inscription correctly and, being the pedants that we are, we have to query the position of the apostrophe. This is...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
D. S. Wallis

D. S. Wallis

Resident of Hendon who served and died in WW2.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
Unknown bust 1

Unknown bust 1

SW1, South Eaton Place, 26

Bust 1, to the south, shows some damage but, we hope you agree, both busts represent the same man. But who? Only a few months later we c...