Thomas Attwood statue fenced off row
Dec 16 2009 by Neil Elkes, Birmingham Mail
A STATUE of one of the city’s greatest ever political leaders has been “shamefully” fenced off and hidden behind the German Christmas Market stalls, it has been claimed.
The bronze statue of Victorian reformer Thomas Attwood has sat on the steps of Chamberlain Square in front of the Central Library since 1993.
But when the Christmas craft market pitched up they hid him behind metal barriers, stacks of Christmas trees and wooden sheds.
Honourary Alderman Matt Redmond, who was a city councillor when the statue was installed, said he was shocked to see it obscured when showing relatives around the city centre.
“As a long standing admirer of Thomas Attwood, the first MP for Birmingham, I wanted to make sure our visitors would see the statue that reclines on the steps in Chamberlain Square, as they had requested. I was appalled. Try to find the statue if you can, I scrambled through a small gap between the maze of market stalls in an attempt to find a safe route.
“I wouldn’t recommend trying to view the statue to anyone, with so much debris and obstacles in the way. The council doesn’t seem to like the people’s champion.”
He called on the council to take urgent action to restore access to the statue. The statue, installed was paid for by Attwood’s late great great granddaughter Priscilla Mitchell. Another bronze statue stood in Sparkbrook between 1974 and 2008 and is now in storage.
The Frankfurt Christmas Market and the linked craft market have been such a huge success over the past few years, generating an estimated £67 million for the local economy last year, that the number of stalls has increased.
A council spokesman said: “Thomas Atwood is of course a significant figure in the history of Birmingham and the statue is a deserved memorial to the man. It is not currently as accessible as would normally be the case but of course the Frankfurt Christmas Market is a temporary event.”
