turrets, which were the work of masons including Thomas Whiteley, who was associated with Robert Mawer. In preparation for the sculptural work, the carving areas were roughed out on the building blocks by the masons before the blocks were hoisted into place. The architectural sculptors would ascend ladders and scaffolds to carve the fine art pieces in public view. The sculptor credited for the general carving work on the building is Catherine Mawer, whose stoneyards were in Oxford Place on the west side of the building, and George Street (now Great George Street) on the north side. Her nephew William Ingle, who ran the stoneyards, carved all the sheep head reliefs, which represent the fleece. He was also responsible for the team that produced the general architectural sculpture. The tympanum above the south entrance is by the sculptor John Thomas (1813–1862). The figures represent Progress, Art and Commerce. The central figure is Athena, who has a laurel wreath, distaff, judicial chair, and owls taken from the Leeds coat of arms and from her own set of animal attributes. From left, the other four main figures are Industry with an anvil and a bale of cloth, Poetry and Music with a faun's head and a flower-swag, Fine Arts with a Corinthian capital and a bust of Minerva, and Science with a compass, globe and tools. On the west and north elevations of the building, the fourteen keystone heads were being sculpted by Catherine Mawer's husband Robert, between 1853 and 1854, when he died. Catherine Mawer completed the masks, as well as the putti on the side panels of the main entrance and on the clock tower. The four Portland stone lions on plinths along the frontage, an 1867 addition by the sculptor William Day Keyworth Jr, contrast with the sandstone of the building itself, and were modelled at London Zoo. The first two lions were unveiled on 15 February 1867, the soft Portland stone has subsequently eroded with the weather. History Background Until 1813, the seat of Leeds Corporation was the Moot Hall of 1618, on Briggate, which was also used for judicial purposes. Leeds went through a period of rapid growth in the first half of the 19th century and by the mid-19th century it became apparent that the court house was no longer large enough for the functions it performed; it was demolished in 1825 and replaced by a