Hartlepool Monkey Memorial

Statue of the apocryphal monkey hanged as a French spy

The Monkey Memorial sits on the marina waterfront and commemorates one of England's stranger civic legends. Whether or not a monkey was ever actually hanged in Hartlepool is anyone's guess — the story doesn't appear in print before the 1850s — but the town has wholeheartedly embraced it.

The bronze sculpture shows the monkey at the moment of judgement. It is small and easy to miss; look for the plinth a short walk along the marina from the Andy Capp statue.

things to do landmark
A story
During the Napoleonic Wars a French ship is said to have wrecked off Hartlepool with a single survivor — a pet monkey in a French uniform. The locals, having never seen either a Frenchman or a monkey, put the animal on trial as a spy and hanged it. The town's football team is nicknamed The Monkey Hangers, and in 2002 the mascot — H'Angus the Monkey — was elected mayor.