South Bank Lion

South Bank Lion
Red Lion
The South Bank Lion
South Bank Lion
Artist	William Frederick Woodington
Year	1837 (1837)
Medium	Coade stone
Subject	Lion
Dimensions	3.7 m × 4.0 m (12 ft × 13 ft)
Weight	13 tonnes
Designation	Grade II* listed
Location	London
Coordinates	51°30′03″N 0°07′11″W / 51.50088°N 0.1198°W / 51.50088; -0.1198

The South Bank Lion is an 1837 sculpture in Central London. Since 1966 it has stood next to County Hall, on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is a significant depiction of a lion, along with the four that surround Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square just across the river.

The statue is about 13 feet (4.0 m) long and 12 feet (3.7 m) high, and weighs about 13 tonnes (14 tons). It was cast in 1837, the year of Queen Victoria's accession, of Coade stone, one of the earliest types of artificial stone. The material is very resistant to weathering, and the fine details of the lion's modelling still remain clear after decades of exposure to the corrosive effects of London's severe air pollution, the infamous pea soup fog, prior to the passage of the Clean Air Act 1956. The statue was made in separate parts and cramped together on an iron frame. It was formerly known as the Red Lion, as it was painted that colour between 1951 and 1966.