Work begins on Leaning Woman Statue

We are delighted to confirm that restoration work will begin on the Leaning Woman Statue on 7 May. This important 1959 statue by Czech sculptor Dr Karel Vogel was commissioned as part of the LCC’s post-War Patronage of the Arts Scheme but in recent years it had been deteriorating with its armature corroding.

We are hugely grateful to all the members of the public, the St Peters’ Residents Association and Hammersmith & Fulham Council for supporting the project and we are excited to see work starting.

Young people will continue to be involved through our Proud Places youth engagement programme.

Work will take place through May and June and we will have a public launch with the local community in July 2024.

There will be opportunities for supporters of this project to come and visit the conservators, Sally Strachey Conservation, at work and please be in touch with us direct on info@heritageoflondon.org if you would like us to contact you.

Work begins on St Leonard's priory

Work has begun on the restoration of the How Memorial Gateway, the entrance to a former Benedictine nunnery in Bromley-by-Bow.

With records dating back to 1122, the Prioress of St Leonard’s Priory - whose French was spoken with a ‘Stratford’ accent – was inspiration for the satirical portrait of the Prioress in the General Prologue of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The site’s Gothic Victorian entrance has been on the Heritage at Risk Register and is now being restored, with the support of Tower Hamlets Council who have given a Historic Buildings Grant, and The Diocese of London.

Local young people are continuing to visit the site as part of our Proud Places programme and meet the stonemasons at work. A community led project to restore the churchyard with new planting will bring it into use as an attractive green space.

Dr Nicola Stacey commented: “London is full of hidden histories and this corner of Bow has a fascinating medieval past. Once vibrant with gardens, fishponds and brewhouses, it was lost in a dead-end street. We are thrilled to bring back to life its stories of Chaucer’s Tales, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Huguenot refugees and the bombing of the East End in WWII. Our Proud Places programme offers a chance for local schoolchildren to get involved in the restoration work itself.”

Alexandra Williams, Buildings Adviser, Diocese of London commented: “We are delighted to be working with Tower Hamlets Council and the Heritage of London Trust on the restoration of the How Memorial Gateway. The Gateway marks the entrance to St Leonard’s Priory Park, an important historical site and local green space that provides the community of Bromley-by-Bow with a place for reflection and interaction with nature.”

How Memorial Gateway has been supported by the Jones Day Foundation.

Byron 200

Today 19 April marks the bicentenary of Lord Byron’s death and our Poet for Places Kira Nelson has released an epic poem about his life.

“This is the finest work of poetry that I have ever produced and I cannot tell you how many hours for days on end have been put into making Vyronas a poem worthy of the man!”

A wreath-laying at Westminster Abbey with the Byron Society and the Poetry Society commemorated his legacy:

But words are things, and a small drop of ink

Falling like dew upon a thought, produces

That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.

– Don Juan

Students from Ormiston Latimer Academy also visited Byron’s statue today as part of our Proud Places programme – 400 students have now learned about Byron in advance of his statue restoration project.

To read more about the statue restoration see here.

For more on Kira’s poetry see here.