Manual Ref* SUscTH001 Show 4 images 1164
Title*

Crocodile
County Suffolk   District Council Suffolk Coastal 
Civil Parish or equivalent Thorpeness  Town/Village* Thorpeness 
Road Off the Haven 
Precise Location small island near landing stage 
OS Grid Ref TM 470595  Postcode IP 16 
Previous location(s) Presumably crocodile island (see below) 
Setting On island in Meare  Access Public 
Artist/Maker Role Qualifier
Not known  Sculptor(s)   

Commissioned by

 Possibly Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie (see below) 

Design & Constrn period

  

Date of installing

  

Exact date of unveiling

  

Category
Abstract Animal Architectural
Commercial Commemorative Composite
Free Functional Funerary
Heraldic Military Natural
Non-Commemorative Performance Portable
Religious Roadside, Wayside Sculptural
Temporary, Mobile Other  

Object Type
Building Clock Tower Architectural
Coat of Arms Cross Fountain
Landscape Marker Medallion
Mural Panel Readymade
Relief Shaft Sculpture
Statue Street Furniture War Memorial
Other Object Sub Type: Crocodile

Subject Type
Allegorical Mythological Pictorial
Figurative Non-figurative Portrait
Still-life Symbolic Other

Subject Sub Type
Bust Equestrian Full-length
Group Head Reclining
Seated Standing Torso
Part Material Dimension
Crocodile     

Work is
Extant Not Sited Lost

Owner/Custodian

  

Listing status
Grade I Grade II* Grade II Don't Know Not Listed

Surface Condition
Corrosion, Deterioration Accretions
Bird Guano Abrasions, cracks, splits
Biological growth Spalling, crumbling
Metallic staining Previous treatments
Other  
Detail:

Structural Condition
Armature exposed Broken or missing parts
Replaced parts Loose elements
Cracks, splits, breaks, holes Spalling, crumbling
Water collection Other
Detail:

Vandalism
Graffiti Structural damage Surface Damage
Detail:

Overall condition
Good Fair Poor

Risk
No Known Risk At Risk Immediate
Signatures/Marks  
Inscriptions  

Description (physical)

 The history of the crocodile with its sword-like tail is not known but an early map of the Meare (published by Philip Dawes from a 1930s guidebook to Thorpeness) shows an imaginative lay-out inspired by Peter Pan and Robinson Crusoe. Islands are named: Peter Pan’s property, Wendy’s house, Crusoe’s island, and to the north Pooks Hill with a crocodile and sign ‘Beware of the crocodile’ snarling across the stream at the dragon on the Dragon’s Den. Early photographs ( a corner of the Meare c1930 p.4 image 9 ) show a, presumably wooden, dragon on top of shelter made out of an upended rowing boat. There are no photographs of the dragon, which is now propped up at the rear and if not the original it may be an early replacement now moved to the small island near the landing stage, 

Description (iconographical)

 in 1908 Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie, a wealthy barrister and playwright inherited Thorpeness, part of the Sizewell estate, acquired by his father around 1859. Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie planned a unique holiday village and playground for wealthy families, centred around the inland Meare. The early Elizabethan safe shipping 'Haven' to the west of Thorpe had silted up over the centuries. When it flooded in November 1910, Ogilvie was inspired to create the 64 acre Meare, a key element in his plan for a fantasy holiday village for the upper middle classes, initially family and friends, between the Meare and the sea, themed, as we have seen, to encourage children were encouraged to boat and play. A picturesque Boathouse with a clock tower was built, rowing boats made available for hire, and teas served by the landing stage. In August 1912 the first Regatta took place on the Meare, and continues as an annual tradition in the village. During the day boat races and other competitions take place in and on the water, which is lit at night by Chinese lanterns on boats, and a finale of fireworks ends the festivities as dark falls. The competitors rented the large mock Jacobean and Tudor style houses attractively designed by William Gilmour Wilson and Frederick Forbes Glennie and carefully laid out in natural settings of gorse, heather and heathland. Although the style was mock Tudor, the architects nodded to modernism in their exclusion of sculptural decoration. The large houses were situated along Lakeside, overlooking the Meare, and smaller 'bungalows' erected nearby and in other parts of the village, or adapted from cottages and the Old Barn.  

Photographs

 Date taken:  12/1/2013
Date logged: 

Photographed by:
Sarah Cocke

On Site Inspection

 Date:  12/1/2013

Inspected by:
Richard Cocke

Sources and References

 http://aldringham.onesuffolk.net/parish-past-and-present/thorpeness-a-short-centenary-history/ and After 100 years a 100 photos (photos supplied by Peter Drew) ttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/- ttp://seasidesuffolk.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/map-of-thorpeness-meare.html  

Database

 Date entered:  14/1/2013

Data inputter:
Richard Cocke