Skegness Magazine

Culprit’s Confession

The circus came to town in 1961, bringing with it a revealation – the self-confessed culprit who painted the Skegness stone lion gold!

While the first performance under the big top on Richmond Drive was in full swing, Ivor revealled the secret that he had kept for twenty-five years:

“Yes, there were three of us. Me and two of my pals. We had been out on a spree, and decided to do it for a bit of fun. In fact, we went there three nights running.
“The first night we did it with gold paint; then we painted it silver; and on the third night we used another colour. Nobody knew who’d done it !”

The dastardly deed was done in 1936!

Picture: The man who painted the Skegness stone lion gold – animal trainer, Ivor Rosaire, pictured with his 19-year-old daughter Judith (left), Mrs Pauline Fossett, and two anonymous mules and a llama.

The stone lion, the emblem of the Lion Hotel, Roman Bank, Skegness, began its life aloft the hotel but was brought down to ground level in 1906. The statue stood on the pavement outside the Lion Hotel until it was taken away by the owners of the hotel when the latter was sold in 1997.