Gog and Magog of Guildhall

As the legend goes, the mythical giants Gog and Magog were chained to the gates of Brutus’s palace on the site of Guildhall. Today, two wooden carvings of the giants stand in the Hall itself. An early version of Gog and Magog were destroyed in Guildhall during the Great Fire of London. They were replaced in 1708 by a large pair of wooden statues carved by Captain Richard Saunders. These giants, on whom the current versions are based, lasted for over two hundred years before they were destroyed in the Blitz. They, in turn, were replaced by a new pair carved by David Evans in 1953 and given to the City of London by Alderman Sir George Wilkinson, who had been Lord Mayor in 1940 at the time of the destruction of the previous versions.