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Writer's statue set to be approved for town centre

Howard Coster Black and white photo of Sylvia Townsend Warner smoking a cigarette. She is looking towards the right of the frame and holding the cigarette out to the left. She has dark hair, round glasses and pendant earrings.Howard Coster
Sylvia Townsend Warner lived in Dorset with her partner, poet Valentine Ackland

A statue of a writer who spent most of her adult life in West Dorset is set to be approved by a council.

Sylvia Townsend Warner was a contemporary of Virginia Woolf and lived in Dorset with her long-term partner, Valentine Ackland.

The plan for the bronze sculpture, which will incorporate a bench and Dorchester's Susie the cat, is expected to be given the go-ahead for South Street by Dorset Council's northern planning committee on Tuesday.

Townsend Warner and Ackland lived together when same-sex relationships were "heavily stigmatised" and they were "pioneers for LGBTQ+ visibility and acceptance", the authority said.

Townsend Warner's statue, if approved, would be the first statue of a woman who was not a member of the Royal Family in Dorchester.

The council said it would bring "potential for visitors to the statue to spend money in the town's shops, cafe and facilities" and that planning permission for it should be granted.

Denise Dutton/Dorchester Civic Society A clay maquette of the statue depicting a woman sitting at one end of a bench with a cat rubbing its head on her feet. The woman is wearing a long skirt and a buttoned blouse. She is also wearing glasses and has curly hair parted in the centre.Denise Dutton/Dorchester Civic Society
A clay maquette of the statue shows the writer sitting on the bench with Susie at her feet

The application by Dorchester Civic Society also includes an information board.

The installation would sit outside the town's Gould's department store, where there are already a pair of benches.

It would be sculpted by Denise Dutton, who created the statue of palaeontologist Mary Anning, which stands in Lyme Regis.

A total of 79 people or groups said they had no objections but six people told the council they were opposed to it.

Some said it was a "waste of money", while others said Townsend Warner was "not well known enough to warrant this honour". Someone said they felt the bench would be a trip hazard.

Others said it would be a worthy contribution to the town and that it would acknowledge a major writer who is increasingly recognised.

Susie the cat won over hearts by visiting 30 different shops across Dorchester last year.

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