Isisbridge

The figures of the Eight Winds appeared on the original Tower of the Winds in Athens and were used by the sculptor John Bacon (1740-99) as the basis for his designs for the flying figures round the top of the stonework of the Observatory. Bacon also designed the two statues (in cast iron) of Atlas and Hercules who support the globe on the roof. The condition of the Windrush stone of which the Eight Winds are made compares unfavourably with that of the Coade stone of the Zodiac and other figures below, which has successfully withstood the elements for two centuries.