Spriggan in Crouch End

Posted by London Guided Walks on Saturday, September 13, 2014 Under: Art

Spriggan, a guardian of abandoned ruins in Crouch End

Spriggans, a guardian of abandoned ruins in Crouch End

The sculpture depicts a Spriggan - a mythical creature, usually of rather ill disposition, which is said to be a guardian of abandoned ruins, barrows and buried treasures. Sometimes Spriggans would even steal human children and leave their own ugly offspring behind, so be on guard if out walking with your kids!

This particular Spriggan is a work of an internationally acclaimed London-based sculptor, Marilyn Collins. Interestingly, it has inspired the horror writer Stephen King to write his short story Crouch End. Apparently, King was directed to the Parkland Walk by his friend, Peter Straub when he asked for a good place for a walk. Looking at the sculpture pushing its way through the wall, one can almost see how it inspired King to write a story about a different world, inhabited by demons and monsters, separated from our own only by a thin veil, which would sometimes give way, letting an unsuspecting person through to their doom.

The sculpture has also been said to be a tribute to a ghostly "goat-man" who allegedly haunted this particular area in the mid 1980s. Be as it may, local childern would still play a game of dare to walk from the Crouch End Hill bridge to the Crouch Hill bridge in the dark, past this sculpture.

It is accessible 24/7, all year round. Do you know of any other Spriggans in London?

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Spriggan in Crouch End

Spriggan, a guardian of abandoned ruins in Crouch End

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