More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
He's back.
Iggy the Iguanodon has made a re-appearance in Maidstone 125 million years after he last roamed the area.
Now officially reclassified as a Mantellisaurus, a sub-species of the Iguanodon genus, Iggy can be seen on the forecourt of Maidstone East Station which is currently nearing the end of a £2.5m upgrade.
The dinosaur forms part of Maidstone's official coat of arms after his skeleton was unearthed in a quarry off Queen's Road in 1834.
The bones were identified by palaeontologist Gideon Mantell, who has since given his name to the species.
The term dinosaur was not coined until 1841, seven years after Iggy's discovery.
The real Iggy is on display in the Natural History Museum in London, but a cast of his skeleton can be seen at Maidstone Museum.
Iguanodons are believed to have grown to a length of up to 10m, a height of 2.7m, and weighed four to five tons.
They were herbivores and could stand on their back legs, but travelled on all four.
The refurbishment at Maidstone East is a joint venture between Network Rail and KCC.
It includes a landscaped entrance, a new roof, an attractive glass front, and new waiting room, café, ticket office and staff room.
The idea of installing Iggy as a work of public art at the station was the suggestion of borough councillor Tony Harwood (Lib Dem).
He said: "Maidstone is unique in being the only borough in the country with a dinosaur in its coat of arms.
"Now when people arrive at Maidstone East the first thing they will see is our dinosaur.
"What a lovely greeting, everyone likes dinosaurs!"
The sculpture is 3.5m long and 2m high and was commissioned by Maidstone council and created by father and son Gary and Thomas Thrussell.
Cllr Harwood said: "They've done a fantastic job. People often think only of old bones when they think of dinosaurs, but the Thrussells have created a superbly anatomically correct representation of a living creature."
The metal sculpture cost £40,000.
