Norwich: 'We could make more of Thomas Browne brain statue'

Marion Caitlin says the city council is wasting an opportunity to make more of the sculptures and Thomas Browne's legacy

A proposal to remove city centre statues which remember a renowned 17th Century physician was "a real shame", an historian has said.

The city council has voted to remove a brain sculpture and a collection of works called a Homage To Sir Thomas Browne, in Hay Hill, Norwich.

Marion Caitlin, from the Thomas Browne Society, said "more should be made" of his legacy and the statues by the city.

The project is intended to make the area more accessible.

The city council wants to remove the sculptures to make the square more accessible

The sculptures, including inscriptions on blocks of marble, were installed on a newly-paved area in 2007.

But they have proved controversial, with The Norwich Society among those calling for their removal.

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Ms Caitlin, who founded the Thomas Browne Society in Norwich, said they were created by "internationally renowned artists" Anne and Patrick Poirier, yet "we have never made anything of it which is a real shame".

"I think it's a wasted opportunity not to make more of Browne and the work," she said.

"They commemorate a character of the city who is very undervalued and under celebrated in Norwich."

Ms Caitlin says the sculptures are working as intended by the artists as places for people to sit on and children to play upon

Sir Thomas Browne was an English polymath and author who lived in Norwich from 1636 until his death in 1682.

Buried in nearby St Peter Mancroft, Browne's skull was removed when his lead coffin was accidentally opened by workmen in 1840.

It was not re-interred until 1922 when it was recorded in the burial register as aged 317 years.

Ms Caitlin said: "He invented more words for our English language than anyone, other than Shakespeare.

"We needed new words to name new ideas - and they include electricity, coma, migraine, misogyny."

This 1904 statue of Sir Thomas Browne will stay in Hay Hill but be moved to a less prominent area, as part of the council plan

Proposed changes include the installation of a water feature, the removal of four trees due to health and safety concerns and double height steps for informal seating.

Mike Stonard, Norwich City Council's cabinet member for inclusive and sustainable growth, said: "It's great to see these plans emerging for a really important but tired space in the city centre."

Ms Caitlin, who was the city council officer who oversaw the installation of the sculptures, said they were working "as a place to sit and rest" as "the artists intended".

The decision to remove the pieces was voted through earlier by the council's planning committee.