Statues of Stature: Sir John Betjeman

28 April 2014

It was only when heading for Eurostar at St Pancras International, that I bumped into a gentleman waiting to get onto the train. This was of course a statue of the former poet laureate & founder of the Victorian Society, Sir John Betjeman- lauded for his sterling fight to save Sir John Gilbert Scott’s beautiful St Pancras from being demolished in the 1960’s.

I didn’t realise then that this was a statue created by Martin Jennings - indeed, it was only when reading the coverage about his statue of Charles Dickens that I put two and two together. This bronze statue, standing 2.1 m tall or 8.5 ft in old money was a tribute from London & Continental Railways to the man who made their redevelopment of the statue possible - indeed part of the inscription on the slate roundels on which it sits reads Sir John Betjeman - who saved this glorious station.

The statue was unveiled by his daughter, Candida Lycett Green and the then poet laureate Andrew Motion on 12th November 2007.

Contributor & Photography: Sue Lowry

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