Queen’s Coronation, Westminster Abbey 1953

The Queen’s Beasts were a set of ten heraldic statues produced by the Ministry of Works for the Coronation ceremony of Queen Elizabeth and were displayed outside Westminster Abbey. They each stood 6ft tall and were composed of plaster and sculpted by James Woodford. After the ceremony they were moved to Hampton Court and then Windsor but in 1959 they were shipped to Canada where they can now be seen at the Canadian Museum of History in Quebec.

In 1956 a replica set of Beasts were made in Portland stone, once again by James Woodford, and donated to Kew Gardens where they can be seen today by the main entrance to the Palm House.

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