Please support this petition by signing it…..The petition’s creator Ian Jarman will be speaking at our next open meeting on 15th February 2018.
It calls for the installation of a roof, canopy or some form of protection from further erosion by the elements, over the statue of Edith and Harold at West Marina Gardens, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex.
Why is this important?
The statue, made in 1875 by Charles Wilke and donated to Hastings in that year by Lord Brassey, bears no identification and is eroding badly in the open air. It is the only public monument in the UK depicting the famous act of ‘Edith finding the body of Harold on the battlefield of Hastings’ immediately after the battle in 1066. It needs to be properly sign-posted, it’s story told, and protected for future generations to enjoy.
Edith was Harold’s common-law wife of 20 years who bore him 6 children, from one of whom, Gytha, our present Queen is descended. She is also thought by some to be the woman (one of only three in its entirety) shown in the Bayeux Tapestry (scene 47) fleeing, with her young son, from a burning house set on fire by Duke William’s troops. The statue represents a depiction of her last embrace with her lover as she identified his body among the fallen after his defeat. Following this poignant act she disappears from history: whereas Harold’s legacy is acknowledged in history books the statue remains one of the few testaments to Edith’s important role in the history of our nation.
You can find out more by visiting the Campaign’s Facebook page:
Or on Twitter: @roof4edith
