Coalville: Details uncovered during restoration of statue

The 1963 Mother and Child statue has been restored to the original bronze colouring

A restoration project of a statue in a Leicestershire town has revealed details not known before.

The 1963 Mother and Child statue was removed from outside Coalville Library in September to bring it back to its original bronze colouring.

It depicts a woman comforting her son and holding a shopping bag containing items linked to the former mining town.

During the work, unknown details became visible, including an oil tanker in the bag and a zip at the back of her dress.

The statue, which John Roydon Thomas sculpted, was commissioned to represent Coalville's proud heritage and unveiled for the opening of a shopping centre on 11 October 1963.

It was later removed by developers and intended for scrap, but it was rescued from a skip by North West Leicestershire District Council and installed in front of the town's library in High Street in 1988.

It shows a mother proudly looking forward with her child looking behind her and holding a string shopping bag, which contains lumps of coal, a bobbin, a baby doll and the fourth item was thought to have been a battery.

The sculpture was removed last year to be restored following £40,000 of government funding.

The string shopping bag contains lumps of coal, a bobbin, a baby doll and an oil tanker

Stuart Warburton, secretary of Coalville Heritage Society, who has been part of the project, said the statue's restoration had now been completed, adding the finished work was "outstanding".

He said the team had recovered lost details about the statue hidden underneath the surface.

"The restoration has revealed many features of the statue, which could not be seen," he said.

"These include the zip at the rear of the mother dress, small details of the clothes and figure, but most importantly, it is now possible to distinguish the oil tanker as before the work it was not clear and resembled a battery."

Mr Warburton said the scale model of a railway oil tanker represented the work of Stableford railway wagon works.

The lump of coal represents the town's mining history, the bobbin of yarn relates to the area's textile industry and the doll is linked to Palitoy - the renowned toy maker, which had its main factory in Coalville.

The statue is now due to be re-installed at its original home in the Belvoir Shopping Centre.

The district council said it was in talks with the shopping centre owners and hopes it will be returned later in the year.