Plymouth

The Nancy Astor Statue

Statue image courtesy of Geoff Bayliss

Crowdfunder

The people of Plymouth marked the centenary of Nancy Astor’s election by unveiling a permanent memorial to her on 28th November 2019. A crowdfunder raised more than £140,000 in 400 days and the statue was commissioned and erected in less than a year –  an extraordinary feat led by Alexis Bowater, Chair of the Lady Astor 100 Campaign https://www.ladyastorstatue100.co.uk/ 

The campaign was a bipartisan affair and was supported by women MPs across the political spectrum.

 

Unveiling the statue

The statue was unveiled by Prime Minister Theresa May at 1.00pm on 28th November 2019.
Today, the statue stands on Plymouth Hoe outside Elliott Terrace, the Astor’s constituency home.

People on march with school children carrying banner
Luke Pollard MP, Baroness Chakrabbarti, Alex Beverley and prospective parliamentary candidates lead schools on a march to the statue unveiling.

 

Alexis Bowater, Emily Astor, Jacqui Turner and Hayley Gibbs watch Theresa may unveil the statue
Group of ladies
Teresa May with postgraduate students from the University of Reading

 

The sculptor

Hayley Gibbs was commissioned to design and build the statue following a public design competition in February 2019.  For an insight into the creative process please see Hayley’s blog of 27th February 2020 ‘A Sculptor’s Journey’.

Dr Jacqui Turner was the historical consultant for the statue project, research was vested in the Nancy Astor papers held at University of Reading Special Collections

Adam Lines (University of Reading Special Collections), Rachel Newton (postgraduate), Hayley Gibbs (sculptor), Dr Jacqui Turner

Follow the journey from crowdfunder launch to the statue unveiling here and on Twitter: @ladyastorstatue;  Facebook and Instagram.