150 years of the Weelsby woods lions – but how did they get there?

This year marks the 150^th anniversary of the Weelsby Woods lions that have stood guarding the park for as long as most of people in North East Lincolnshire have been alive.

Throughout the years, countless people have sat and had their picture taken on them, but do any of you know how they got there?

What you may not realise is that Weelsby Woods has not always been their home.

Carved in Bath Sandstone in 1876 by Richard Winn, the lions were commissioned by Tommy Campbell and proudly stood outside his home on Abbey Road for many years to come.

Weighing two tons each, the lions were a star attraction of the street and, as stated in the Grimsby Observer in in that year: “Their noble and imposing appearance, unequalled in the neighbourhood, will undoubtedly attract a good deal of admiration from persons passing by.”

However, it wouldn’t be long before they were on the move. In the 1930s, they spent a period at Sutcliffe’s Zoo before reportedly being given to what was then Grimsby Borough Council in the 1950s.

Shortly after, they appeared at the entrance of where many of us remember them from, Weelsby Woods. The park itself was originally donated to the town in 1948 by Fred Parkes, Chairman and Managing Director of the Boston Deep Sea Fishing and Ice Company, based in Grimsby.

Since then, the lions have welcomed visitors to the park for almost 80 years, with many people having sat on them for a picture when visiting. In 2006, they were refurbished to restore their faces and preserve them for future generations.

Over the years, the lions have sadly been subject to vandalism in the form of spray paint and one was knocked over in 2023 after a car crashed into it.

The right-hand lion was fully rebuilt following the incident after the community raised £10,000 in just one week. Booths Stonemasonry, of Lincoln, worked to repair the lion and remodelled the face of the left-hand lion so the two could match each other in 2025 – funded by the Council.

Now, the two stand proudly at the entrance once more for everyone to enjoy.

With it being such an important year for the sculptures, make sure to get yourself down to the woods to get your picture taken with them on their special birthday.