Thursday, October 17, 2024

'Jacob' by Shirley Pace

Jacob the Dray Horse

Wandering on the south side of the River Thames, where many of the old buildings have been repurposed as dwellings and businesses, you still come across new developments.

While many of these newer buildings still fit in with the aesthetic of the area, some do not. The latter can not be said of 'The Circle', on Queen Elizabeth Street. These newer buildings have been designed so as to not appear out of place, while still offering something new.

However, what caught my eye, as I strolled along the street, was this bronze statue of a Dray horse, named 'Jacob', stood in the centre of the road on a plinth.

Jacob the Dray Horse at The Circle

When 'The Circle' was being developed the architects and designers wished to pay homage to the history of the area, hence the statue. 

As stated on the affixed plaque, Dray horses, from the nearby Courage Brewery, were stabled here from the early nineteenth century.

It is a wonderful statue that has caught the power of these mighty animals, that trekked back and forth through London, delivering beer.

The inscription on the plaque states:

"Jacob

The Circle Dray Horse

The famous Courage dray horses were stabled

on this site from the early nineteenth

century and delivered beer around London

from the brewery on Horselydown Lane

by Tower Bridge.

In the sixteenth century the area became

known as Horselydown, which derives from

'Horse-lie-down', a description of working

horses resting before crossing London Bridge

into the City of London.

Jacob was commissioned by 

Jacobs Island Company and Farlane Properties

as the centrepiece of The Circle

to commemorate the history of the site.

He was flown over London by helicopter

into Queen Elizabeth Street to launch

The Circle in 1987."

As a little footnote, I am not entirely sure that this is the actual derivation of Horselydown.


2 comments:

  1. The name Horsleydown comes from the Old English phrase "Horsridune", which means "hill at the dry ground in marsh where horses are kept". The area was originally a large grazing field for horses and cattle, and the name is a reference to the horses lying down there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, for finding the etymology of the name and the history of the area.

      Delete