Statue of professional female gardener unveiled

A statue of the UK's first professional female landscape gardener, who laid out more than 75 London parks and gardens, has been unveiled in south-west London.

The bronze statue of Fanny Wilkinson, who was born 170 years ago, has been installed on a renovated Edwardian drinking fountain in Coronation Gardens in Wandsworth.

Dr Nicola Stacey, director of Heritage of London Trust, said many of the gardens Ms Wilkinson designed featured public drinking fountains, often dedicated to a person of note.

"It's particularly fitting that Fanny should now have her own fountain, and we look forward to it becoming a beacon for the local community," she said.

The statue, by London-based sculptor Gillian Brett, sits in one of the many parks Ms Wilkinson laid out.

She said: "Fanny Wilkinson worked hard for many years to design public gardens, making green spaces and fresh drinking water available for all to enjoy, and it's an absolute pleasure to know that my sculpture will help to commemorate her pioneering professionalism."

Juliet Rix, author of the newly published book London's Statues of Women, said the sculpture of Ms Wilkinson was a lovely addition to the park.

"It's really interesting what has happened with the representation of women in statues," she said.

"The first statue of a stand-alone woman in London was in 1897."

Ms Rix said there was a "smattering" of other statues of women erected, adding: "In the last three to four years, more women statues have been unveiled in London than in the whole second half of the 20th century."

Ms Wilkinson, who was born in Manchester in 1855, was the only woman on her course at the Crystal Palace School of Landscape Gardening and Practical Horticulture in Sydenham in 1883.

A year later, she was elected as honorary gardener to the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association. This became a professional position two years later, and she was paid a fee.

In an interview in 1890 she said: "I certainly do not let myself be underpaid as many women do … I know my profession and charge accordingly, as all women should."

Wilkinson was a suffragist, an activist in sanitary and political reform, and a supporter of women's education and rights.

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