Faux Stone Statues At The Baa Pub

Most of us will have no doubt spent a bit of time in a pub beer garden, and in most cases they will be no more exciting than a few tables or picnic benches and maybe even a pergola for shade, but the beer garden of The Baa pub in Edmundbyers is a whole different ball game!

While you sit supping your pint or glass of wine, you will be overlooked by a huge statue of a Knight and another of a Handmaiden. Not only that but there are also a series of large Viking standing stones. They may look ancient and solid but they are actually “faux stone”, a mixture of fibreglass, resin and textured paint.

So, what are they and why are they here? They certainly aren't lost relics or maybe even spoils of an ancient battle, but are thought to be TV props from the ITV series Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands. The show was filmed nearby in Eastgate Quarry, in Weardale, on a huge specially built set around 2015.

The TV show was based on the Old English poem “Beowulf”, an epic poem of 3,182 alliterative lines set in 5th and 6th century pagan Scandinavia. Sadly, it only ran for one series as it was cancelled almost immediately on broadcast.

The Knight and Handmaiden statues are around 3m in height and stand with their heads slightly bowed and holding a sword, while the standing stones are around 2m in height and covered in intricate Celtic and Norse knotwork. They are very convincing and the only give away is the hollow noise when you tap them and the fact they are fixed down and to the nearby trees to stop them being blown over!