10 Secret Places You Need To Visit In Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
6. The Vampire Rabbit
One of our favourite #HeritageTreasures is the Newcastle Vampire Rabbit we think its Fangtastic! Don't forget to share yours pic.twitter.com/35LQHOyaQG
— National Lottery Heritage Fund North East (@HeritageFundNE) January 11, 2017
Hidden in plain sight in the city centre, this curiosity has been ever-observant since the early 1900s.
To the superstitious, it is believed to have been a warning to would-be grave robbers from times of old. To the realist, it is a decorative symbol of the promise of spring - akin to the Easter Bunny. It is also believed to have been an homage to Sir George Hare Phipson, a local doctor and friend of architect, William H Wood, who helped design the Cathedral Buildings.
Despite its recent paint job, capitalising on the urban legend of it being a vampire rabbit, the sculpture is supposedly a hare with its ears stuck on the wrong way round.
Either way, this static creature is a photo opportunity only to be had when visiting the Toon.