These striking animal reliefs, carved around 800 CE, are among the finest surviving examples of Anglo-Saxon sculpture from the Mercian kingdom. They were originally part of the 9th-century monastery at Breedon-on-the-Hill and are now set into the walls of the later Augustinian priory church of St Mary and St Hardulph.

The carvings demonstrate the distinctive Mercian sculptural style, combining Celtic, Insular, and Mediterranean influences. The figures were probably once mounted on the exterior walls of the early monastic church, forming a decorative frieze of symbolic beasts and birds rendered in high relief.

The most famous of these reliefs depicts a powerful lion-like creature with an owlish face, known as the “Anglian Beast.” This hybrid animal, both fierce and watchful, represents the early medieval fascination with mythical and moralized creatures—symbols of strength, vigilance, and divine protection. Its bold modeling and simplified anatomy reflect the sculptors’ intention to convey energy and meaning rather than naturalistic form.

Alongside the Anglian Beast are two further friezes illustrating the same vivid imagination. One shows interlaced beasts biting and grappling with each other, a theme that may have carried moral or spiritual significance, representing the struggle between good and evil or the chaos subdued by divine order. The other depicts a procession of birds, their plumage stylized into rhythmic patterns reminiscent of manuscript illumination. These avian motifs, which echo designs found in early Insular art such as the Book of Kells and Lindisfarne Gospels, likely symbolized spiritual ascent or the souls of the faithful.

Together, these carvings exemplify the creativity of Mercian artisans, who drew upon Celtic ornament, classical motifs, and Christian iconography to forge a unique visual language. The surviving stones from Breedon-on-the-Hill provide a rare glimpse of the rich artistic culture that flourished in Anglo-Saxon England before the Viking invasions of the ninth century.

Alongside the Anglian Beast are two further friezes illustrating the same vivid imagination. One shows interlaced beasts biting and grappling with each other, a theme that may have carried moral or spiritual significance, representing the struggle between good and evil or the chaos subdued by divine order.

The other depicts a procession of birds, their plumage stylized into rhythmic patterns reminiscent of manuscript illumination. These avian motifs, which echo designs found in early Insular art such as the Book of Kells and Lindisfarne Gospels, likely symbolized spiritual ascent or the souls of the faithful.