ASLAN is majestically looking down on Oxford.

But the mighty beast from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is not the only noble figure to have been newly set in stone on top of the city’s Bodleian Library.

Nine gargoyles designed by schoolchildren to celebrate Oxford’s cultural past and present are now in place on the north-west face, looking out over Broad Street.

Up alongside the gargoyle of Aslan the Lion is a Dodo, Tweedledum and Tweedledee and Three Men in a Boat.

More than 500 young people took up the challenge of designing a new gargoyle for Oxford University.

But there could only be nine lucky winners, who will get to see their work officially unveiled on one of Oxford’s most famous buildings on Saturday.

The event will mark the start of the third Oxford Open Doors weekend, which offers people the chance to visit landmark buildings and hidden gems around the county.

The three themes of the competition were myths, monsters or people that have a historical connection with Oxfordshire over the last 1,000 years.

Fittingly, Alfie Turner, 14, of Longworth, designed a gargoyle of Sir Thomas Bodley, the library’s founder, while Kerrie Chambers, 15, of Bicester, came up with General Pitt Rivers, the creator of the Oxford Museum.

George O’Connor, 13, from Summertown, said he was looking forward to seeing his Dodo unveiled.

He said: “It will be great showing it to my own kids one day and knowing there is a piece of me in the Bodleian Library.”

The other competition winners were Ben Bryant, 14, from Abingdon, who designed a wild boar, Hannah Duckworth, 13, from Headington Hill, who designed the Green Man, inspired by a visit to Oxford Botanic Garden, Eva Masmanian (Tweedledum and Tweedledee), Henry Chadwick (Three Men in a Boat), Hayley Williams (Aslan), and Alex Sermon ( J.R.R. Tolkien).

The competition was organised by Oxford University and the Oxford Preservation Trust.

The winners were chosen by a panel of judges made up of Debbie Dance, director of the preservation trust, Bodleian librarian Dr Sarah Thomas, Woodstock sculptor Martin Jennings, and Oxford University’s head of building conservation, Isobel Hughes.

The children’s designs were turned into finished gargoyles by sculptors Alec and Fiona Peever, from Ducklington.

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