Occasionally when I am touring around No 1 Poultry I look back across the road and point out this bizarre item, appearing at each end of the building opposite.
This is the Ned (now a 5 star hotel) – previously the Headquarters of Midland Bank in Poultry and designed by Edwin Lutyens in the 1920s.
No-one seems very clear of the classical origin but it is very old, and could even date back to Egyptian mythology representing the struggle of good over evil.
Here is an article about the history of the image.
http://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1086&context=arch_pubs
More to come on the Ned in the next post, it is an amazing site and by the way the taps and bathroom fittings were provided by my brother in law, Drummond Shaw!
