At the heart of London are two cities: the City of London and the City of Westminster. The City of London is the ancient part of London that was once known as the Roman city of Londinium. It comprises an area of one square mile and is located north of South Bank and London Bridge. The boundaries of the City of London have changed little since medieval times and the boundary is six miles long.
The entrance to the City of London is marked in ten locations by statues of dragons. There are two dragons supporting the City of London Coat of Arms and dragons are important symbols of the city.
They mark the boundary between the City of London and the City of Westminster, with the dragon facing outwards from the City of London.
These are the original dragons that were located under the entrance to the Coal Exchange in Lower Thames Street. The Coal Exchange was demolished in 1963 and the dragons were moved to either side of the Victoria Embankment. All of the other dragons were based on them and the map below marks their locations (click to be taken to Google Maps).
City of London Boundary Dragons
The dragon boundary marks are cast iron statues of dragons on metal or stone plinths that mark the boundaries of the City of London. The dragons are painted silver, with details of their wings and tongue picked out in red. The dragon stands on its two rear legs, with the right foreleg raised and the left foreleg holding a shield which bears the City of London's coat of arms, painted in red and white.
The design is based on two large dragon sculptures, 7 feet (210 cm) high, which were mounted above the entrance to the Coal Exchange on Lower Thames Street, designed by the City Architect, J. B. Bunning, and made by London founder, Dewer, in 1849. The dragons were preserved when the Coal Exchange was demolished in 1962-3. The two original statutes were re-erected on 6 feet (180 cm) high plinths of Portland stone at the western boundary of the City, by Temple Gardens on Victoria Embankment, in October 1963.
The Corporation of London's Streets Committee selected the statues as the model for boundary markers for the city in 1964, in preference to the fiercer dragon by C. B. Birch at Temple Bar on Fleet Street. Half-size replicas of the original pair of dragons were made by Birmingham Guild Limited were erected at main entrances to the City of London in the late 1960s. In addition to the Birch dragon at Temple Bar, and the two original Coal Exchange statues on Victoria Embankment, and there are two replicas of the Coal Exchange dragon at the south end of London Bridge, two on High Holborn near Gray's Inn Road, and single replicas on Aldgate High Street, Bishopsgate, Moorgate, Goswell Road (north of Aldersgate Street), Farringdon Street, and at the south end of Blackfriars Bridge.
City of London arms on saddle blanket (two dragons with a firm hold on Saint George cross)
www.emminlondon.com/2011/08/city-of-lond...oundary-dragons.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_boundary_mark
Within the boundaries guarded by these dragons is the financial sector of London,the square mile.
