The Monument for a Dead Parrot and Other “Hidden” London Landmarks

London is quite big – and most people have heard of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the Tower of London – and so on.  Yet there are numerous other landmarks in London that often go unnoticed by the throngs of tourists.  Perhaps that isn’t such a bad thing, but some must be seen to be believed and others make you scratch your head about why they exist in the first place.  Take the Monument for a Dead Parrot, situated in the grounds of Devonport House in Greenwich.  It is thought to be a homage to Monty Python’s Dead Parrot sketch (look it up if you don’t know it), even though it is a sulfur-crested cockatoo rather than the entirely fictitious Norwegian Blue which featured in the infamous comedy sketch.  Created by artist Jon Reardon, it was placed in the grounds in 2009, with a short holiday away for the London Olympics in 2012. Image

YouTuber JackSucksAtLife gives us a tour of a number of strange, sometimes bewildering – even occasionally touching – London landmarks that you may not know exist.  They include the Cornhill Devils (the origins of which Jack explains in the video below), the stretcher railings, the grave of an unknown Roman girl, the dead parrot (of course) and many others.  Jack has a nice way of presenting, and if you want a guided tour of London’s more peculiar and less known landmarks and monuments, then Jack’s the lad for you…