Coade Stone Caryatids

The lowdown

Flanking the grand St Pancras New Church on the Euston Road stand rows of classical maidens, caryatids, modelled on those of the ancient Acropolis in Athens. They are made from Coade stone, a remarkably durable artificial stone perfected by the businesswoman Eleanor Coade in the 1700s, whose exact recipe was lost after her death and only recently reconstructed.

There is a charming flaw, the figures arrived too tall for their plinths, so a section had to be cut out of their middles, leaving them looking slightly squashed. It is free to admire, a fine slice of Greek revival drama and a tribute to one of Georgian London's most successful businesswomen.