Have visited Castle Fine Arts (near Oswestry) with Harriet Addyman to see progress on our William Marshal statue.  Waxes have now been made from the rubber molds transported from Autodromo (see earlier post) and are looking really good.  Importantly, Harriet is very pleased and impressed with the work of this foundry.  Had a tour of the foundry and it's really interesting to see the processes involved.

Great Progress on the William Marshal Statue!

The mould for the William Marshal statue has now been made and taken away to Castle Fine Arts Foundry to be cast in bronze.  

This was done in 3 stages: 1 Applying silicone spray rubber to cover whole piece, then 2 Applying polyester resin in sections

Finally  3 Removing the polyester resin jacket to reveal the completed moulds..

HLF backing for our Monkton book project

 

We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to fund the publication of a new book ‘Monkton – a Hidden History’.

We have long felt that the history of Monkton has been neglected, being in the shadow of Pembroke, which is obviously one of the most historic towns in Wales but Monkton has a rich history in its own right. 

Proudly independent of its larger neighbour, Monkton was virtually a self-contained community for over a century with shops and tradesmen of every kind, farms and quarries, schools and pubs and regular livestock fairs in the village street. Sadly, much of the character of the village was lost in the early 1960s when the local council decided to bulldoze most of the old terraces and replace them with a modern housing estate, the old community shattered. So one aim of the project is to unearth as many old photos and memories as possible in order to recreate the 'old' Monkton. Please contact me if you can help either on Messenger or email pembrokehistory@live.co.uk

William Marshal statue completed

 

Trustees of Pembroke & Monkton Local History Society approve the completion of the William Marshal statue.  They are pictured here (socially distanced!) with sculptor Harriet Addyman (pictured on the right).  The next stage will be the making of the mould  - this done, the statue will be cast in bronze at the Castle Fine Arts Foundry, Oswestry.

Henry VII gets an Easter clean up!

 Great job Harriet!  Harriet Addyman set to work this morning to give Henry VII a spruce up for Easter - those pesky seagulls have been perching on his head and using him as a convenience!  Now thanks to the efforts of his maker, Harriet, assisted by Pauline LeBritton and Rhiannon Robson he is all cleaned up and looking lovely! Well done girls!!

William Marshal statue progresses!

Latest photos of the William Marshal statue.  Harriet Addyman continues to make great progress and the statue is looking fantastic!  I posted them on Facebook a few days ago and they went viral!  Amazing response and such enthusiasm! 

Work progresses on the new Henry Tudor Centre

 

Following the success of the Henry VII statue, we campaigned for a Heritage Centre dedicated to Henry Tudor, in celebration of his birth in Pembroke Castle.  Now, at last, this is becoming a reality.  Pembrokeshire County Council began building works at the end of last year and it is progressing well. 

For so long an eyesore, these buildings are now being converted by PCC into a Heritage Centre with community facilities including a Tourist Information Centre, Library and Cafe.  The land to the rear will become community gardens with access from the South Quay.  This is an exciting project and something really to look forward to!

William Marshal statue

Like organisations everywhere, we are still unable to plan any public meetings and events in the near future.  However, our work continues and I'm pleased to report that our super talented sculptor, Harriet Addyman, is making progress on the William Marshal sculpture and we hope that, the state of Covid-19 permitting, the statue will be unveiled at the end of August / September with a celebration in Pembroke Castle. This is a joint venture with Pembroke Town Council and is part funded by Pembrokeshire County Council's Enhancement Pembrokeshire grant.