In the late Victorian era when Britain’s towns and cities surged with new brick terraces and grand civic buildings, even the smallest architectural components carried meaning.

Among them was this window wedge,

This piece shaped into the proud face of a lion, once sat nestled within the arch of a Victorian window watching over the street below. Its purpose was both structural and symbolic. 

Lions were one of the most widely used motifs in Victorian times. They symbolized, strength and protection, authority and dignity and were a classical reference to ancient Greek and Roman architecture.