Stompie The Tank

For the 1995 movie Richard III, director Richard Loncraine towed an old Soviet T-34 tank to the center of London and had it drive through a wall for the final battle scene filmed at Battersea Power Station. The tank had originally seen action during the Prague Spring uprising in 1968, and after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, it was decommissioned and sold for scrap. Later, it was picked up by Richard Loncraine.

Photo: Geoff Henson/Flickr

On completion of the movie, the tank was bought by a local scrap dealer named Russell Gray for £7,000 as a present for his son. Gray had previously applied for a building permit on a vacant spot of land he owned, but the Southwark Council denied his request. In response, Gray obtained the tank and placed it on the site, with its gun turret turned towards the general direction of the council offices. According to neighbours, when Gray requested permission to install a “tank” there, council officials assumed he meant a septic tank.

Since then, the tank has become a local curiosity and is regularly painted in a wide variety of color schemes by graffiti artists. Nicknamed “Stompie”, the tank is located on the corner of Mandela Way and Page's Walk in Bermondsey, London.

Photo: Tom Page/Flickr

Photo: GrindtXX/Wikimedia

Photo: Wesako/Wikimedia

Photo: Thomas d stewart/Wikimedia