Echinus

Masters in Hand Carved and Cast Stone 

This fire surround is based on an 18th Century design by Batty Langley, the fire surround seen in the photograph is carved in Cotswold stone but can be carved in any suitable stone or marble.

The laurel is one of the eternal symbols of Greece. The interlocking branches and bay laurel leaves are a simple yet beautiful invention - a symbol of victory, power and glory. 

Beginning in 776 BC, these wreaths were awarded to athletes during the Olympics; the significance for this is found in Greek mythology. Apollo, the Olympian God and son of Zeus, was in love with a nymph named Daphne. Daphne didn’t reciprocate this feeling and fled from Apollo, asking a river god for help. She turned into a Bay Laurel tree, a fragrant plant, just as Apollo approached her. The laurel is called daphne in Greek, after the nymph’s name.

Apollo was torn over the loss of Daphne and to remember her, he made the laurel the symbol of poets.  Apollo also cut off a branch to wear as a wreath, declaring the plant sacred, a symbol of his unrequited love. That’s how the laurel wreaths came to be a crown of leaves.