Skip to content

In pictures: Crosby Beach iron men over the years

Tom Mullen
BBC News, Liverpool
Getty Images One of the statues with waves breaking over it up to waist heightGetty Images
The iron men have a become synonymous with the Merseyside coast

Silhouetted against sunsets, half-buried in sand or standing poignantly under the moonlight - Crosby Beach's celebrated iron men sculptures have inspired visitors for two decades.

Sir Antony Gormley's Another Place, featuring 100 iron figures modelled on the artist's own body, has become synonymous with the Sefton coast near Liverpool.

Marking the work's 20th anniversary this week, Sir Antony said: "I think it's about life and death, love and loss, and without people reacting to it, it's nothing."

Here are a selection of striking images of the artwork from over the years.

Getty Images One of the iron men with a tyre playfully thrown over itGetty Images
One of the sculptures shown with a tyre playfully thrown over it
Getty Images One of the statues against a sunset backdropGetty Images
The figures provide a happy hunting ground for photographers capturing sunsets
PA Media Antony Gormley with one of his iron men statuesPA Media
Sir Antony Gormley at Crosby Beach in July 2005, when Another Place was revealed
Getty Images One of the sculptures waist-high in gentle breaking waves by daylightGetty Images
Waves break against one of the sculptures left waist-high in the water
Adam Vaughan/EPA One of the statues silhouetted against a view of the norther lightsAdam Vaughan/EPA
An iron man shown silhouetted against the northern lights
PA Media Beachgoers paddling in the sea pictured next to one of the statues during daytime, with the statue in the foregroundPA Media
Beachgoers paddling in the sea pictured next to one of the statues
Getty Images One of the statues pictured leaning at an angle after years surviving against the elementsGetty Images
The sculptures have survived the elements for two decades
Getty Images A Cunard cruise ship on the horizon offers another perspective on the statuesGetty Images
A Cunard cruise ship on the horizon offers another perspective on the iron figures

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.

Related stories