Southwark Park caryatids

Work is underway on the Victorian caryatids in Southwark Park. The missing arms of one of the caryatids have been remodelled first in wax, built up over wooden frame supports. They are currently being re-carved in stone at a workshop off-site.

Our Proud Places team have been taking local young people to meet the stonemasons and get up close to the sculptures. The young people have been introduced to stonemasonry and taken part in clay sculpture and drawing workshops.

These caryatids were once on each side of the main entrance at Rotherhithe Town Hall, sculpted by the artist Henry Poole (1873-1928).

Rotherhithe Town Hall was severely damaged by bombing in the Blitz – it was hit by bombs on six different occasions and later had to be demolished. The bombing damaged the caryatids too. However, they were rescued and transferred to a new housing complex in Elephant and Castle, the Heygate Estate, in 1974. 

After the Heygate Estate was demolished in 2011 the caraytids were rescued again and installed in Southwark Park.

The project, supported by HOLT, Knight Frank and Southwark Council will be finished in early December.

We’d love to know your thoughts on the project, please fill out our survey here.