Council House Lions

Left Lion time…

In the middle of Nottingham is the Market Square, a handsome, airy piazza flanked by an attractive medley of old and new buildings and equipped with a puzzle-like water fountain. The site of public marches and demonstrations, not to mention an artificial sandy beach in summer, the Market Square’s pre-eminent building is the imposing Council House (town hall), a handsome Neo-Baroque structure built as part of a make-work scheme that employed hundreds of men during the Great Depression of the late 1920s.

The building’s grand façade comprises eight stone columns set beneath a tympanum decorated with symbolic figures such as Justice, with a mighty domed clock tower rising high above. Nikolaus Pevsner was very sniffy about the place in his 1951 survey of Nottinghamshire: ‘Not much can be said in defence of this kind of neo-Baroque display,’ he moaned. Yet locals are extremely fond of their Council House – or at least they are of the two Art Deco lions that stand guard outside – Oscar on the right, and Leo on the left. To the casual visitor, the two heavyweight beasties may seem fairly routine, but to Nottingham folk mention of the Left Lion will almost always bring a smile: for no obvious reason, the Left Lion has long been the place to meet, especially for a first date, creating a veritable scrum of anticipation and desire amidst a cloud of perfume and aftershave. Incidentally, the architect responsible for the lions named them ‘Agamemnon’ and ‘Menelaus’ – but Nottingham folk were having none of that.

As a final bonus, the belfry tower of the Council House is home to ‘Little John’, supposedly the deepest-toned clock bell in the country. The bell weighs over 10 tonnes, and its infinitely reassuring and immediately recognisable strike can be heard for a distance of around eight miles. Little John was, of course, the bosom chum of Robin Hood.

Address Market Square, Nottingham, NG1 2DT, www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/councilhouse | Getting there Local bus (most lines) and tram to the city centre | Hours Market Square and Lions – open access. Council House opening hours vary – see website for current information on visiting | Tip Down an alley near the Council House is Five Leaves (www.fiveleavesbookshop.co.uk), an independent, radical bookshop of some national renown. Amongst much else, they offer an extensive programme of lectures, meetings and readings.