St. Pancras Church was built in 1869 for £89,296, the most expensive house of worship since the reconstruction of St. Paul's Cathedral. Modelled on the Erechtheum of the Acropolis in Athens, the church's exterior has lost much of its magnificence due to the pollution from the Euston Road. On closer inspection these maidens are stumpier than their Greek counterparts (one of whom is on display in The British Museum, courtesy of Lord Elgin). Sculptor Charles Rossi (1762-1839) spent three years crafting these Caryatids out of Coade stone, an artificial material much favoured for the neoclassical monuments so popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. The figures were built up in cast iron columns. But when Rossi transported them from his studios to the church, he discovered to his horror that the statues were too tall. Under the gaze of bemused onlookers, Rossi took drastic action: he cut off their midriffs. Thankfully their draped Grecian gowns help to conceal their stunted torso's.
Coade Stone came from Coade's Artificial Stone Manufactory, founded in 1769 by Mrs Eleanor Coade. It stood on the site where the Royal Festival Hall now stands. The material was widely used for statues, busts, tombstones, architectural and stone ornaments for almost 65 years. It's ingredients and manufacturing process were a trade secret but one anonymous account says "The preparation was cast moulds and burnt. It is possesed of a particular property of resisting frost, retains its sharpness and excels every species of stone, and even equals marble". Other famous Coade stone statues include Nelson's pediment at the Royal Naval Collge in Greenwich, and the 13 ton Lion on Westminster Bridge (GC1BEM6), one of a pair that used to crown the Red Lion Brewery on the South Bank. The other lion of that pair now guards the All England Rugby Club at Twickenham.
Despite its 65 years of success the company went bankrupt soon after Eleanor Coades death in 1796, aged 88. She is buried at Bunhill Fields (GC2M65B). More info about Eleanor and Coade Stone here
