The material is very resistant to weathering, and the fine details of the lion's modelling still remain clear after decades of exposure to the corrosive effects of London's severe air pollution, the infamous pea soup fog, prior to the passage of the Clean Air Act 1956.

It was painted red as the symbol of British Rail, and mounted on high plinth beside the entrance to the Festival of Britain near Waterloo station.

The red paint was removed, and the statue was erected in its current location on a large granite plinth at the east end of Westminster Bridge, to the north side, beside County Hall.

[dubious – discuss] It was moved to Cambridge, where it was displayed at the new Lion Yard shopping centre, which had been named after a pub at that location.

It stood on an arched gateway leading to a second brewery site on the south side of Belvedere Road, on the corner of Sutton Walk.