Elfin Oak is a Grade II listed building in the Kensington and Chelsea local planning authority area, England. First listed on 19 December 1997. Sculpture. 1 related planning application.
Elfin Oak
- WRENN ID
- burning-rubblework-fen
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Kensington and Chelsea
- Constituency
- Kensington and Bayswater MP: Joe Powell (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 19 December 1997
- Type
- Sculpture
- Address
- Elfin Oak, Kensington Gardens W8
- OS grid reference
- TQ 258 804
- Coordinates
- 51.50869, -0.18793
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Elfin Oak is a sculpture created between 1928 and 1930 by Ivor Innes. It is a free-standing, gnarled oak tree stump adorned with carvings of animals, elves, and fairies. Most of these figures are carved from oak, while some are believed to be made of plaster, all of which are painted and over-painted. The sculpture represents the world of Little People, including characters like Wookey the witch, Hucklebury the gnome, and Grumples, among others. It serves as a rare three-dimensional depiction of the contemporary interest in fairies, which was popularized by J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. The statue of Peter Pan, created by Sir George Frampton and listed as grade II*, complements the Elfin Oak. This sculpture is also notable as part of George Lansbury's inter-war initiative to enhance London's public amenities and reflects the popular public art of that era. The protective railings and shelter surrounding the sculpture are not considered of special interest.
Local climate
Elfin Oak sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 94% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 51% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings