The Maiwand Lion is a sculpture and war memorial in Forbury Gardens. The statue was named after the Battle of Maiwand and was erected in 1884 to commemorate the deaths of 329 men from the 66th Berkshire Regiment during the campaign in the Second Anglo-Afghan war in Afghanistan between 1878 and 1880.
It is sometimes known locally as the Forbury Lion and it features on the front page of one of the local newspapers, the Reading Post, and also on the Reading Football Club crest. Its face once featured on the medal given to the finishers at the Reading half-marathon in 2016.
The sculptor was George Simonds, a member of the Reading brewing family from Simonds Brewery. Rumours persist that Simonds committed suicide on learning that the lion’s gait was incorrectly that of a domestic cat. In fact, he made careful observations on lions and the stance was anatomically correct. He also lived for many more years!
For those into Geocaching, you will find geocache sites within Forbury Gardens.
