Civic Society Gains National Recognition
Corsham Civic Society’s project to restore the town’s Mayo Memorial has taken the top prize in an annual national competition that assesses the contribution made to local communities by such restoration activities and the quality of the work undertaken.
It has secured the 2008 Marsh
Award for Public Sculpture. The selection process for the Award is administered
by the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA), supported by English
Heritage. It began over a year ago. More recently, Peter Tapscott, the
Society’s Project Manager for the restoration, has been fielding questions from
the evaluation panel for this year’s award. Word of the success has just come
through.
Peter commented, “As it happens, we are presently putting the final touches to the 'video record' of the project. We will now add a small section at the end to mark the presentation of this award to the Society in recognition of its work on the project.”
Presentation of the Award takes place at the Courtauld Institute of Art,
Somerset House, London on Thursday, 27 November 2008. Peter will make the trip
to London to collect it - and provide any description of the project that is
required. He added, “It could well be that the finalised DVD will do the job
nicely.”
Peter concluded, “The restoration of this monument to one of Corsham’s greatest Victorian benefactors, Charles T Mayo, and the work undertaken to explain his contribution to today’s generation, has been a great success. Our Society is a member of the Civic Trust, and is one of over 700 such groups in the country. Griff Rhys Jones has just recently been appointed President of the Trust. We can be confident that a project such as this will have great appeal to him. Griff is a great rallying point for the civic society movement.”
The Mayo Memorial Restoration Project is presently well-advanced. It has been funded by a grant from the Local Heritage Initiative, now part of the Heritage Lottery Fund. The HLF enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about the nation’s diverse heritage. From great museums and historic buildings to local parks and beauty spots or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our nation’s heritage for everyone to enjoy. It has supported more than 18,000 projects, allocating over £3.3 billion across the UK. This includes over £300m to projects in the South West.
ENDS
Notes for Editors: