Maidstone Magical Beasts sculpture trail to be unveiled

The trail will be officially opened on 3 April

An animal sculpture trail is to be launched in Maidstone, Kent.

The six artworks making up the Magical Beasts trail will include two baby iguanodons and a pair of baby elephants.

The trail, which is the work of father and son sculptors Gary and Thomas Thrussell, will be opened on 3 April.

It will run from Brenchley Gardens, along the riverside to the Archbishop's Palace and on to the Lockmeadow Entertainment Complex.

An animatronic tyrannosaurus rex will be part of the launch day celebrations.

The Thrussells are also the sculptors of an iguanodon at Maidstone East Station, which links with the trail.

Each statue on the new trail will have a QR code which, when scanned with a smart phone, will tell visitors information about Maidstone's heritage.

Claudine Russell, Maidstone Borough Council's cabinet member for communities, leisure and art, said: "I am really looking forward to seeing the new magical beasts sculpture trail, the six individual creatures all telling a bit of Maidstone's fascinating history as the County Town of Kent."

The project was created using money from the government's Shared Prosperity Fund and will feature on a new app, Maidstone Trails, which will guide visitors around the town.

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