THE UNVEILING of four new statues in the city’s historic Cornmarket will mark the final stages of the £500,000 revamp of the popular site.
The famous faces of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, King Charles II, Reverend Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy – otherwise known as Woodbine Willie – and Vesta Tilley, will grace the newly spruced up area tomorrow (Thursday) after being voted for by the public.
Worcestershire County Council commissioned and funded the bronze cast statues with Worcester City Council’s ‘Public Arts Panel’.
They were produced by local company Planet Art, who worked with The Hive, Stanley Road Primary School, St Paul’s hostel, St Martin’s Church and traders around the Cornmarket to bring the influential faces of Worcester’s past to life.
Vesta Tilley was a music hall star who was born in Worcester in 1864 and was once one of the world’s best paid women entertainers, while Woodbine Willie, the vicar of St Paul’s Church, earned his nickname by giving out the Bible and packets of Woodbine cigarettes to soldiers on the troop trains in 1915, at Rouen in France.
King Charles II hid in what is now King Charles House in New Street before fleeing to France, at a time when Worcester was the setting for the last English Civil War conflicts between the Royalists and Parliamentarians and William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway were believed to have married at the Cornmarket’s St Martin’s Church.
The Woodbine Willie and Vesta Tilley statues will feature in two new heritage trails across the city, developed as part of the Heritage Lottery Funded ‘Worcestershire World War One Hundred’ programme.
The revamp of the Cornmarket is part of the first phase of the County Council’s Worcester Transport Strategy and has involved new lighting and street furniture, electrical supplies and improved loading and parking arrangements around Queen Street, New Street and the Cornmarket itself.
Coun Ken Pollock, Worcestershire County Council’s cabinet member for economy, skills and infrastructure, said: “The statues have been commissioned to celebrate the recent revival of the Cornmarket as one of Worcester’s treasured public spaces.
“We’re delighted with the results of this project and very grateful to those who took part. I’m sure like us, they are looking forward to seeing their top choices immortalised in the new-look square.”
The Mayor of Worcester, Coun Paul Denham said: “Strong evidence William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway were married in Worcester’s Cornmarket will come as a revelation to many people.
“These new statues will definitely help in drawing more people to the city to explore the its rich and diverse heritage.”
The unveiling will take place at 11am.
Visit www.worcestershire.gov.uk/cornmarket for more information.
