ANY cat owner knows they like being clean – even Reading’s biggest cat of all, the Maiwand Lion.
The Forbury Gardens legend is currently being given a helping hand, thanks to specialist contractors Cliveden Conservation.
The team started work last week, and have been given a large to-do list to ensure the lion stays as the town’s mane attraction.
It includes removing the bronze plaques for cleaning, and stone repairs, as well as giving the plinth some attention. This includes wedding, cleaning and repointing.
And, they’ll be giving the statue itself a very thorough clean – even washing behind his ears.
So much so, even famous moggies like Garfield will approve of their handiwork which is expected to take eight weeks.
To protect the public, and to give the lion some privacy while they attend to his delicate bits, special fencing and banners have been installed.
This conservation work follows on from the series of High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) funded monument cleaning and conservation that has been taking place since February around the town centre, with work being carried out on The Queen Victoria Jubilee Statue by Reading Town Hall, the Jubilee Cross and the Zinzan Tomb in St Mary’s churchyard, and the Simeon Monument in Market Place.
Cllr Adele Barnett-Ward, Reading’s Lead Councillor for Leisure and Culture, said she was pleased to see the work start, as she knew how much the lion means to people.
“The Maiwand Lion stands proudly in our much-loved Forbury Gardens and over the years the lion has come to mean so much more to the people of Reading beyond just its noble commemoration of those that died at the Battle of Maiwand.
“We all look forward to seeing the restored statue at the heart of this summer’s Forbury Garden’s festivities.
“This work also complements the great work we’ve been carrying out to conserve several of our most treasured monuments in the town centre.”
It’s not the only piece of restoration that’s being undertaken by the borough council in the park.
“Visitors to the Forbury Gardens will also notice the much-loved Forbury Bandstand is currently undergoing some conservation work to ensure it can be enjoyed by visitors to the gardens for generations to come.” Cllr Barnett-Ward said.
“It is temporarily closed and, over the coming months ,specialist conservation experts will be working to improve the stability of its structure.
“Once all the work is completed the final touch will be a fresh coat of paint in its original colours of white and green.”
Ten fascinating facts about the Maiwand Lion:
At the time of its unveiling, the Maiwand Lion was the biggest statue of a standing lion in the world.
The statue commemorates the dead of the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment in the Afghan War (1879-81).
The cast iron lion is a massive, 31ft from nose to tail and weighs approximately 16 tonnes.
It is an urban myth that the legs on the lion are incorrect.
The sculptor, George Blackall Simonds did careful research and the lion is based on actual lions in London Zoo.
George Simonds was a member of the family of local brewers, synonymous with Reading and also created the jubilee statue to Queen Victoria that stands in the Town Hall square today.
The statue was cast into nine separate pieces, then assembled on-site and lifted by a crane onto its plinth.
In the 1970s, there was a proposition to relocate the sculpture to Reading’s IDR, but it was rejected.
In 1992, the lion inspired the Reading Evening Post – our predecessor – to print an April Fool’s article stating that the Forbury Gardens were to become a zoological park.
Since 2003 it has also been possible to raise a glass to the Forbury Lion with his very own Loddon Brewery beer.
Reading Borough Council has produced a booklet detailing the history of the lion. Written by historians Mike Cooper, Katie Amos and Andrew Scott, it is available from Reading Central Library, and branch libraries, for £3 per copy, or for £2 the library can send you the full-colour pdf version by email. For more details, visit a library, or email info@readinglibraries.org.uk
