London’s smallest statue

Here we have a tale of Death, Mystery, Intrigue and Tragedy. (Ok, we’ve kinda bigged it up a bit there but stay with us).

On the corner of Philpot Lane and Eastcheap, (Cheap being an old word for Market, so this was the Market in the East) you will find the home of these two little mice, fighting perhaps, over a piece of cheese. These are the smallest statues in London. But why are they there?

Well, the story goes that when this building was being constructed two of the workmen got in to a fight. One accused the other of stealing his sandwiches, possibly cheese but nothing is certain about this story. 

According to the legend, the fight led to the men falling from the scaffolding to their deaths. 

Later, mice had been discovered on the site with what must have been the remains of the sandwich.

The little statuette was placed there as a reminder of this sad story.