Prince Michael of Kent has installed the final piece of carved Portland limestone in the Lions and Unicorns sculpture on the spire of one of Hawksmoor\'s great London churches, St George\'s Bloomsbury. The \'topping out ceremony\' on 22 March, traditionally performed to bring good luck to a new building, followed a procession by local schoolchildren and residents. The Lions and Unicorns were carved by Tim Crawley, a director of stone carvers and conservation specialists Fairhaven of Anglesey Abbey. The horn on the unicorn being installed by Prince Michael was the last piece of four beasts (two lions and two unicorns) to be reinstated on the tower.

Tim used some of Hawksmoor\'s original designs as a basis for his work. Although the original documentation is sketchy, he used the beasts on earlier depictions of the tower, showing them cavorting around its base, supposedly fighting for the crown in the centre, to inform his work. Tim, who was also the sculptor of the acclaimed \'Modern Martyrs\' on the west front of Westminster Abbey, gained the contract as the winner of a limited competition. Prince Michael commented: "These lively sculptures, part of the architect\'s original design, will have a dramatic impact on London\'s skyline. It is rare that a piece of history is put back in its rightful place - and all credit to those concerned."

The original carvings were removed in the 1870s by G E Street when he was restoring the church. He considered them too frivolous, as well as potentially unsafe. What happened to the originals is not recorded.