The historic Lady With the Lamp statue is about to be unveiled at its rightful home in Tonypandy.
An iconic image which stood in the centre of the town for over 60 years, and was paid for by the miners of the local “Scotch” Colliery, has been refurbished and its ready for display again.
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has worked with its partners including the Rhondda Civic Society, Rhondda Cynon Taf Community Arts and The Civic Trust for Wales to create a community garden where the statue will be situated.
The unveiling will take place on November 7th 2010 at 3pm in De Winton Street car park, outside the old Town Hall. It will mark one of the many highlights of a fun-packed day in the town to commemorate the centenary of the Tonypandy Riots.
This fountain and statue was erected in 1909 with money left over from the memorial statue paid for by the miners to Archibald Hood the well-known Scottish engineer and local mine owner which stands in the grounds of the Llwynypia Workmen’s Institution.
It was unveiled on October 28th 1909 by William Abraham (Mabon) MP. The fountain stood 13ft high and built of cast iron on a pedestal of Aberdeen granite, surmounted by an Egyptian water carrier supporting a powerful gas lamp.
It had three drinking taps, one cattle trough and two dog troughs. It was built by the Coalbrookdale Company from designs by R.S.Griffiths, architect of Tonypandy.
The following inscription on the statue said: “This fountain was erected in conjunction with the statue at the Workmen’s Institute by the workmen of Llwynypia Colliery and others as a memorial to the late Archibald Hood Esq., JP and founder of the Llwynypia Collieries.”
After years as a famous landmark in Tonypandy, it was knocked down by a car in 1965, although it remained on show until 1993 when it was put into storage. All that now remains is the lady herself, as the drinking troughs disappeared long ago.
The Rhondda Civic Society have been striving to refurbish the iconic statue and The Civic Trust for Wales have been instrumental in raising funds from various sources to reinstate it on a new plinth and surrounded by a community garden as a fitting new facility for the town of Tonypandy.
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has facilitated the placing of the statue in an area of grass on De Winton Street opposite the Central Library and is project-managing the installation.
Rhondda Cynon Taf Community Arts have been engaged to help in the design of the plinth and the surrounds for the statue and local schoolchildren from Llwynypia Primary School worked with artist Louise Shenstone to design animal patterns that will be etched into the stone in the perimeter.
Cllr Russell Roberts, Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, said: “November 7th will mark the culmination of several years of partnership working with other agencies to commemorate the centenary of the Tonypandy Riots which not only left its indelible mark on the county borough, but the country as a whole.
“With a whole series of events taking place in the coming weeks, the centenary day will include a spectacular concert and laser show, along with a lantern parade through the town centre.
“We are particularly pleased that the unveiling of the statue will take place as part of the Tonypandy Riots centenary events. We pay tribute to our community partners, the Civic Trust Wales and Rhondda Civic Society in helping realise this ambition.”
