Perhaps it’s only there when you look. This brings us to the Spriggan. It’s easy to walk past this malevolent Cornish faerie without noticing it.
The Spriggan is a sculpture created in 1993 by artist Marilyn Collins. Rob Grundsell, an Arts Officer in Crouch End, dreamed of a sculpture walk for the Parkland Walk. Marilyn Collins’ design was chosen by youngsters at a local youth club. It was a creature from fairy lore. Marilyn collaborated with Theresa Pateman. Joe Rodriguez erected the sculpture.
The Spriggan shares a place established for urban art. Unlike other art, the Spriggan is respectfully left relatively unscathed.
Folklore says spriggans reside in castle ruins and barrows. They guard the faery realm. They steal human children, replacing them with changelings.
When not in Cornwall, find it in the upper sections of the brick abutments. It is along from the Crouch End Hill platforms. It is also near the footpath overhead.
The sculpture may have been inspired by tales of a ghostly goat-man. This goat-man haunted the walk in the 1970s and 1980s. Children dared each other to walk the trail from the Crouch End Hill bridge to the Crouch Hill bridge.
Some say the sculpture inspired Stephen King’s story ‘Crouch End’. But King wrote his tale in the early 1980s. This was long before the sculpture was created.
Parkland Walk itself is London’s longest local nature reserve. Rare wildflowers, birds, and natural creatures can be spotted. Perhaps you’ll even see a creature of legend like the Spriggan.