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Tolpuddle Martyrs Memorial created by award winning sculptor, Thompson (Tom) Dagnall
The Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum trustees have selected award-winning sculptor, Thompson (Tom) Dagnall, to create a lasting memorial to the Tolpuddle Martyrs. The final selection was made following an exhibition of design ideas from seven sculptors from all over the country, held at the Museum during the summer. Opinions were solicited from Museum visitors and local villagers. The sculpture will be sited in the grounds of the Museum and Martyrs' Cottages. It is anticipated that it will be unveiled at next year's Tolpuddle Festival and Rally, July 2001.
Tom Dagnall was selected from a shortlist of three. His design for the sculpture shows a life-size seated figure, representing the martyr George Loveless, leaning against a stone slab. He has chains at his ankles and is staring up at the sky. The base for the sculpture will be a dry stone wall or bench, along the back will be six stone posts, each one engraved with the individual Martyrs' names and with a line from Loveless' famous poem, 'We will be free'. It is likely that the figure will be sculpted from local Portland stone, and Dagnall is hoping to find a local craftsman to help build the wall.
Dagnall gave a presentation to Tolpuddle residents and other interested parties at the Tolpuddle Village Hall on Thursday, 30th November to explain his ideas for the sculpture, and give details of how it will be made. The sculptor has considerable experience of running community projects and hopes to include local schools and other members of the community in projects relating to the sculpture.
In announcing the selection, Mike Jones, chairman of the Museum's trustees, said, "With the opening of the transformed Museum earlier this year, we felt the time was right to create a proper memorial to the Martyrs that would be visible to all passers-by."
"We undertook thorough research to draw up a list of suitable sculptors from the local area and from around the country. The strength of Tom Dagnall's idea appealed to everyone on the sculpture committee. His inspirational and moving concept evokes the struggle of the Martyrs and also gives visitors to the Museum the opportunity to engage with the sculpture. They can even sit next to the chained figure and contemplate what it must have been like to be unjustly imprisoned, then transported."
In describing his idea, Dagnall says, "My first thoughts were that this sculpture must be inclusive rather than exclusive: a piece to draw people forward and into the work." The seated figure is on a long stone bench, which will take the form of a dry stone wall, raised up in the manner of a dock in a courthouse. It will face the road, forming "a remarkable focus for the site and (it) will be unmistakable in its aims".
Tom Dagnall was born and raised in Liverpool, and now lives in Preston in a former Methodist Chapel. He studied at Liverpool and Brighton Polytechnics, before going on to attain an MA at Chelsea College of Art. A full-time sculptor, he has created several public sculptures, the most recent of which overlooks junction 4 of the M65. He recently completed a larger-than-life size work for the town of St Helen's, depicting a family of miners. His sculpture, 'A Kirkby Kiss' won the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts Major Award in 1997 and is now sited at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
Another work won the Royal Bank of Scotland Prize at the Manchester City Art Gallery in 1991.
The trustees of the Museum are currently fundraising for the sculpture, which is budgeted at £20,000. The PCS union (Public and Commercial Services Union) which represents civil servants, and private sector IT businesses and other services, has already agreed to donate 50 per cent of the costs. Other funds will be raised through donations and grants.
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