A MINIATURE statue of King Henry VII was unveiled in Pembroke on Saturday, January 16.
There has been a long standing quest for a statue of the king who was born in Pembroke Castle in 1457. Progress is at last being made in the quest as Saturday’s event saw the unveiling of the Henry VII maquette (miniature of the statue).
The event was organised for Pembroke Town Council by the Pembroke & Monkton Local History Society and the large numbers attending gave evidence of the great public interest in this project.
Proceedings were opened by the Mayor of Pembroke, Cllr Pauline Waters who thanked all those present for attending and these included the deputy Chair of Pembrokeshire County Council, Cllr Keith Lewis, Cllrs Arwyn Williams and Daphne Bush, Pembroke Dock Mayor Cllr Peter Kraus, Neyland Mayor Cllr Margaret Brace and Consort Terry plus Pembroke Town Councillors.
The statue project is a partnership between Pembroke Town Council and PCC which has undertaken to match fund the £20,000 that has to be raised through its Town Centre Support Programme.
She then introduced sculptor Harriet Addyman, of Autodromo Narberth, who had been commissioned by Pembroke Town Council to produce the maquette.
Harriet told the audience she had been delighted to receive the commission as it was high time that Henry was celebrated in the place of his birth.
She added that the research phase of developing the maquette had been an amazing journey, and she had been fascinated to learn so much more about the life of Henry VII.
Linda Asman, Project Leader and Chair of the History Society, then gave an illustrated talk on the early life of Henry and traced his march to Bosworth which began at Mill Bay, near Dale, on August 7, 1485.
She and her husband Stuart had followed the route last year (albeit in a vehicle) and photographed the towns and villages where Henry’s army had camped during the progress to Bosworth.
That journey ended with the defeat of Richard III and the birth of a new Royal dynasty – a dynasty born in Pembroke.
A statue of Henry is long overdue but Linda stressed that we should be campaigning for a national visitor centre dedicated to Henry VII here in Pembroke to equal that of Richard III in Leicester: the Ricardians have had much publicity and we need to tell the other side of the story.
A home video followed which was taken in 1985 of the celebrations in Pembroke Castle to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Henry’s accession to the throne – many local people could be could be recognised participating.
The event officially marked the launch of the fundraising campaign to raise the money for the statue. The History Society has made a good start by raising £314 on the day with a coffee morning, raffle and book stall.
Anyone wishing to make a donation can do so to The Henry VII Statue fund c/o Pembroke Town Clerk, Pembroke Town Hall, Main Street, Pembroke SA71 4JS, Tel: 01646 683092. Email: [email protected]
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