Leaning Woman restoration wins a prestigious conservation award
Leaning Woman restoration partnership (SSH Conservation & HOLT) with the award and the hosts Leaning Woman after restoration Leaning Woman before restoration The PSSA Marsh Award for Leaning Woman Children learning conservations skills at Leaning Woman through HOLT's Proud Places programme 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.
