Leaning Woman restoration wins a prestigious conservation award

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  Leaning Woman restoration partnership (SSH Conservation & HOLT) with the award and the hosts

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  Leaning Woman after restoration

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  Leaning Woman before restoration

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  The PSSA Marsh Award for Leaning Woman

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  Children learning conservations skills at Leaning Woman through HOLT's Proud Places programme

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  Children at HOLT's Proud Places workshop at Leaning Woman

We are thrilled to have won the Marsh Award! The Leaning Woman project has just won the Public Statues and Sculpture Association (PSSA) Marsh Award for Excellence in the Conservation of a Public Sculpture. The award was presented to us, alongside SSH Conservation, at the PSSA’s awards ceremony last night.

Once on the Heritage at Risk Register, Dr Karel Vogel’s much-loved statue was brought back to life in 2024 thanks to HOLT, the local community and Hammersmith & Fulham Council. SSH Conservation carried out the conservation work in 2024, and in 2025 the Leaning Woman was removed from the Heritage at Risk Register.

HOLT Director Dr Nicola Stacey said: “It’s an honour to accept this award on behalf of everyone who helped save the Leaning Woman. This was a wonderful community project that demonstrates the power of public art to inspire affection.”

Our huge thanks to SSH Conservation, the St Peter’s Residents’ Association, Hammersmith & Fulham Council, and everyone who donated, volunteered or took part.

A post-War public art landmark

The Leaning Woman was commissioned by the London County Council in 1958 as part of its Patronage of the Arts Scheme, which placed around fifty artworks in housing estates, schools and public buildings. It was designed to compensate the people of Hammersmith for the widening of the Great West Road. Karel Vogel, a Czech sculptor who arrived in Britain from Prague in 1938, cast the nearly twice life-size figure in concrete around a metal armature. He intended her floating appearance to link “neo-classical calm with the swiftness of the fast modern world”. She was one of his final works.

However, decades of weathering had left the concrete cracked and the exposed iron armature corroding. Earlier repairs in smooth cement had failed and the statue joined the Heritage at Risk Register.

In 2023, HOLT and the local community launched a crowdfunding campaign and along with generous support from Hammersmith & Fulham Council funding was secured.

SSH Conservation then carried out a careful programme of work, including addressing corrosion of the iron armature, repairing cracks and open seams, restoring the concrete surface and protecting against water ingress and further corrosion. The statue’s landscape setting was improved too. Our Royal Patron HRH The Duke of Gloucester unveiled the restored statue in July 2024.

Skills for the next generation

An important part of HOLT’s restoration projects is working with young people through our Proud Places programme to introduce them to heritage and support them in building new skills, creativity and confidence. More than 750 young people visited the Leaning Woman and took part in creative workshops. They included children from alternative provision schools, young refugee groups, and primary and secondary schools.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

You can see the Leaning Woman at North Verbena Gardens, Hammersmith, W6 9AH.

London’s forgotten Gulliver to become a playground again

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Plans to restore an east London sculpture of Gulliver as a place for children to climb, swing and slide are being announced to mark the 300th anniversary of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels on 28 October. Heritage of London Trust is working with Tower Hamlets Council to restore the sculpture and return it to use as a place for children to play.

Created by sculptor Trevor Tennant, Gulliver was designed as the centrepiece of a large children’s sandpit. The artist intended for children to scramble, swing, slide and hide behind the giant figure. The play sculpture is an iconic part of the estate but in recent years its condition has deteriorated so that it is no longer the joyful and inspiring centre of the community it once was. Over time, the sand disappeared, and the sculpture was fenced off.

The restoration will bring Gulliver back to life as a place for children to enjoy on the Locksley Estate in Limehouse, 68 years on from its original launch.

The project also offers a chance to rediscover an overlooked chapter in London’s post-war public art history, when the London County Council, through its Patronage of the Arts scheme, brought more than 70 artworks by leading sculptors into new estates and schools across the city. Influenced by the abstract forms of Henry Moore, Tennant’s sculpture reflects an era when playgrounds were being reimagined as places of creative freedom, physical adventure and discovery.

Local schools will visit the restoration project and creative workshop sessions inspired by Swift’s fantastical story about the tiny Lilliputians and their petty squabbles, satirising 18th century politics. Through the Heritage of London’s Proud Places programme, the project will connect literature, art and local history, giving children the chance to engage with heritage not just by looking at it, but by playing on it.

Dr Nicola Stacey, Director of Heritage of London Trust, said: “This restoration is about more than repairing a sculpture. It is about returning a unique piece of the city’s heritage to its community. Its sculptor Trevor Tennant was a leading proponent of imaginative public art after WWII and we hope Gulliver brought back to life will spark creativity and a love of history and literature. We can’t wait to see it all in action.”

Lutfur Rahman, Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets said: “"This project reflects our commitment to investing in our council estates and creating neighbourhoods where residents can thrive. By restoring Gulliver, we are bringing a much-loved community space back into use, giving local children a unique place to play, explore and be creative once again.

"We are proud to be working with Heritage of London Trust to protect an important piece of our borough’s history while investing in the future of our communities. Projects like this show how arts, culture and heritage can enrich everyday life, strengthen local pride and ensure that our estates remain vibrant places for people of all ages. As we mark the 300th anniversary of Gulliver’s Travels, it is wonderful to see this remarkable sculpture inspiring a new generation of young residents."

The restoration will be carried out by London Stone Conservation in the spring of 2027 and will reopen in the same year.

See more in the press here.

Bryan Kneale's 'Slatehook' unveiled after restoration on Clapham’s Fenwick Estate

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We are delighted to have unveiled the restored Slatehook, a sculpture by Bryan Kneale, on the Fenwick Estate in Clapham North, together with Lambeth Mayor Cllr Paul Valentine, residents, friends and local schoolchildren.

Slatehook was commissioned in 1961 through the London County Council's Patronage of the Arts Scheme, which brought work by leading sculptors into new housing to enrich everyday public spaces. Inspired by slate gateposts on the Isle of Man where the artist was brought up, its twisted steel suggests a horse drawn plough.

Over the decades, Slatehook showed the effects of time and weather. Its metalwork had corroded and its large slate slab had been graffitied. The conservation work included cleaning the sculpture, removing limescale deposits, filling cracks, and repainting the steel with a protective coat.

HOLT director Dr Nicola Stacey said: “Slatehook is an artwork by a fantastic artist whose work is in the world’s biggest galleries, so it’s wonderful to have it here on Fenwick Estate. We hope that it brings local residents great interest and pride for many generations to come.”

The Mayor of Lambeth, Cllr Paul Valentine, said at the unveiling: “Slatehook really shows you that art, culture and heritage is inspirational to everyone and it’s important to have this everywhere in our borough. I’m delighted to be here and it’s been a fantastic event.”

Famous for his work in welded metals, Bryan Kneale was the first abstract sculptor to be elected to the Royal Academy. His work is held in collections including Tate, the British Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

We were delighted to host Bryan Kneale’s daughter, Kate Kneale, at the unveiling. Addressing the guests, and especially children, she said: “I am touched and moved that you’re here, and I’m thrilled that you restored this work. It is a reminder that we should all have these things around us. [...] My father would be so happy to see this project. But the most important thing that he would really really like you to do is to use this to fire up your imagination and go on and find your voice and find your place in the world.”

Ishmael from Heathbrook Primary School, said: “I think it is a good thing it's been restored because we don't want it to get all rusty at the end because of the rain and everything. If we don't restore it, it will be like crushed out and in the future people won't be able to see it. This is good because someone might be able to see the artwork and they might get inspired themselves and make big artworks like that one.”

Thank you to everyone who came to the unveiling, including local residents who shared their memories of Slatehook, Kate Kneale, representatives of Bryan Kneale’s gallery Pangolin London, Royal Academy of Arts and the students and teachers of local schools St Andrews and Heathbrook Primary School.

We would also like to thank Lambeth Council for working so closely with us and to Richard Rogers Conservation for their fine work.