A businessman is trying to fathom how an old stone head got stuck in a former pub’s coal chute.
Neville De Souza, director of property company Lightbox, found the head in the old Thicket Tavern, near Crystal Palace Park, which has recently been converted into flats and an arts space.
During the demolition phase of the renovation work builders found the statue in a small bricked up area of the original pub's coal chute, along with a couple of old Tate sugar wooden boxes.
Mr De Souza believes the head was probably part of one of the many replica statues that formed the Crystal Palace Exhibition back in the 19th century.
The businessman is calling on the public to help find the statue’s body and is asking for anyone who might know how the head ended up in the old pub, to come forward.
Mr De Souza said his looking into donating the head to the Crystal Palace Museum.
He said: "We would love the public to be able to identify which classical statue the head is modelled on.
"Does anyone know what happened to the entire statue and where the torso may be? Does anyone know how the statue head ended up in the Thicket pub?
"As a resident of the area I am fascinated by the local history that surrounds us in Crystal Palace and the great community spirit which seems to be imbued in it."
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