We responded to proposals to remove and replace the four statues which surmount the west tower of Trinity College Oxford’s chapel.
The west tower originally featured four female stone statues, each representing one of the liberal arts subjects taught at the time of the tower’s construction in the late seventeenth century; these being Theology, Law, Medicine, and Mathematics. After roughly two centuries, the original statues were removed in 1820 and replaced with the tower’s extant figures, with whose removal the proposals are concerned.
We found that the plans to remove and replace these nineteenth-century statues would give rise to a low level of less-than-substantial harm through the loss of historic fabric and the interruption of the building’s 1820s development phase. However, we accepted the principle of replacing the four statues, given the evidence that their severe material deterioration presents safety risks and limits their ongoing contribution to the building’s significance.
We advised that:
- the design of replacement statues must be a faithful, evidenced-based and scholarly reconstruction of the original design intent, informed by rigorous assessment of the historical and physical evidence;
- the LPA should seek greater clarity regarding the anticipated programme for the removal, conservation and reinstatement of the replacement statues, given their status as highly prominent elements of the Grade I listed building, and important features in views, along Broad Street and within the Conservation Area. A Condition on the programme would help secure the timely reinstatement of sculptural ensemble to restore the coherent architectural composition and symbolic qualities of the Grade I listed building;
- the LPA should be satisfied that appropriate arrangements are made in relation to the 1820 statues, and that their safe conservation and storage on site – and, where feasible, public display – are secured as part of any Listed Building Consent.
Image courtesy of Trinity College, Oxford