Tower and Town, October 2022 (view the full edition)Leo The Lion - An important part of Marlborough historyWhilst out in and by the river our staff and volunteers often get asked, "Do you ever find anything interesting in there?" The answer is yes, we are often surprised at what finds its way into the river; microwaves, suitcases, car exhaust systems! However, I think the most interesting item is a very heavy medieval stone lion which was discovered by volunteers whilst we were working on our Team Stream river restoration project at the rear of the Marlborough branch of Waitrose back in 2015. Leo, as he was named, remained hidden until quite a time after the project. In July 2020 a small group of strong ARK volunteers were convinced to heave Leo onto boards in the river, secure him with ropes and haul him out. This was all pretty challenging as the riverbank at this stretch is steep and we were in the midst of the pandemic! David Dawson from Wiltshire Museum was very helpful and confirmed Leo is a very fine 14th century corbel. A corbel is a projection, usually of stone, that acts as a base for an arch. Given the location where Leo was found, he felt the most likely origin was White Friar's Priory Church. It is an unusual corbel in that it has two wall faces at right-angles. This suggests that it was from the junction of the nave or chancel. Local historian David Sherratt, who inspired us to get Leo out of the river, cleaned him up; and if you wish to see Marlborough's very own medieval stone lion he now resides in The Merchant House gardens.  Anna Forbes |