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The top dogs at English Heritage sites

Find out about the best canine paintings, statues, skeletons and more connected to our sites

Image: The Hound of Alcibiades

The Hound of Alcibiades at Wrest Park

This striking statue is a replica of an Ancient Greek bronze statue of a Molossian hound (Epirus mastiff), an ancestor of the modern mastiff. It’s made from Portland stone and is thought to date from the late 18th century. In Greek history, Alcibiades was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator and general.

Wrest Park also has an 18th-century statue of Diana (the Roman goddess of the hunt) with a greyhound. In a wooded corner of the gardens there is also a pet cemetery which the Lucas family, who owned the property, used to bury their favourite dogs. The headstones are arranged around a statue of a dog on a plinth.

Visit Wrest Park
Image: Portrait of a spaniel at Marble Hill

van der Kuyl’s portrait of a spaniel at Marble Hill

This portrait of a handsome spaniel by Dutch artist Gysbrecht van der Kuyl highlights the popularity of the breed in the 17th and early 18th centuries. Spaniels were the favourite dog of King Charles II (r.1660–85) and acted as ‘comforters’ or stomach warmers for women on long carriage journeys.

The owner of this dog is not known, but they clearly thought their spaniel was worthy of a portrait. Henrietta Howard, who had Marble Hill built, had a dog called Fop who is thought to have been a spaniel. An avid dog-lover, she even wrote a letter to the Earl of Chesterfield in the voice of her dog Marquise!

Visit Marble Hill
Image: Charles Neville’s pet terrier at Audley End

Charles Neville’s pet terrier at Audley End

Charles Neville, the fifth Baron Braybrooke, loved to keep terriers and had a particular favourite named Shulah. He was so attached to it that he took it with him when he went to study at the University of Cambridge in the 1840s. After its death, Shulah was stuffed and displayed at Audley End. The scene in the display case relates to Shulah’s favourite pastime: catching rats.

There is also a story of a ghoulish hound at Audley: Margherita van Raalte, who lived there in the early 1900s, wrote in her memoir that she and her husband decided to leave Audley End partly because of the ghost of a dog which allegedly came through the wall in the billiard room.

Visit Audley End House and Gardens
Image: Dismal and Cheerful Desmonds at Brodsworth Hall

Dismal and Cheerful Desmonds at Brodsworth

When Charles Grant-Dalton and his family moved to Brodsworth Hall in 1931, they brought with them a much-loved collection of Dalmatian dog toys with droopy ears, pink tongues and button eyes. One of the most popular toys of the late 1920s, ‘Dismal Desmond’ was said to look dejected because his owner, Miss Daisy Doodah, had left him. ‘Cheerful Desmonds’ were also later produced.

The collection at Brodsworth contains 13 Desmonds in a whole range of sizes. Such was the popularity of Dismal Desmond, he remained in production until the Second World War and had a brief revival in the 1980s.

Visit Brodsworth Hall and Gardens
Image: Statue of Noble, one of Queen Victoria's favourite collies
© Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2023

Statue of one of Queen Victoria’s favourite dogs at Osborne

The house and estate at Osborne on the Isle of Wight were created as a seaside retreat from court life for Queen Victoria, her husband Albert and their nine children. There are a number of paintings and photos of the family and their friends with a range of dogs.

This 1884 marble statue is of Noble, a collie who was one of Victoria’s favourite dogs. Victoria once wrote of him: “He is the most biddable dog I ever saw and so affectionate and kind: if he thinks you are not pleased with him he puts out his paws and begs in such an affectionate way.” The statue can be seen in the Grand Corridor at Osborne.

Visit Osborne
Image: Scottie dog figurine from the Clayton Collection

Scottie dog figurine at Hadrian’s Wall

Known affectionately as the Chesters Scottie dog, this small, extremely lifelike figurine is made from copper alloy and dates from the 2nd to 3rd century AD. It shows that some dog breeds have changed little since Roman times.

The Romans kept dogs for hunting, chasing pests and vermin out from beneath granaries and other jobs, but they were also treasured pets.

This figurine was found at Chesters Roman Fort and can be seen in the site's museum as part of the historic Clayton Collection, which is made up of Roman finds from multiple forts, milecastles and turrets along Hadrian’s Wall.

Visit Chesters Roman Fort And Museum
Image: Skeleton of a dog at Grime's Graves

Prehistoric dog skeleton at Grime’s Graves

The c.4,600-4,500-year-old skeleton of a dog was found in Greenwell’s Pit at Grime’s Graves, a Neolithic flint mine in Norfolk. It was clear from the care spent over the burial that the dog was significant – it may have been a beloved pet or seen as having some sort of ritual significance. The dog was buried with a small pig bone, perhaps intended as a post-death-ritual snack.

Unfortunately the skeleton itself isn’t available to see at Grime’s Graves but the site is still well worth a visit – you can descend 9 metres (30 ft) by ladder into one excavated shaft to see the jet-black flint that was mined there thousands of years ago.

Visit Grime's Graves - Prehistoric Flint Mine
Image: A black dog

The Barghest at Whitby Abbey

The Barghest, a mythical black dog, is said to haunt the wild moors of North Yorkshire. The writer Bram Stoker carefully researched the folklore and dialect of North Yorkshire for the chapters of his book Dracula that were set in the fishing town of Whitby, home of the spectacular remains of Whitby Abbey.

In the book, Dracula comes ashore at Whitby in the form of ‘an immense dog’. Stoker had clearly been influenced by local tales of the Barghest when writing, immortalising this particularly fearsome legend in one of the most famous horror stories of all time.

Visit Whitby Abbey

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