Funds Still Needed to Save Leaning Woman of the Great West Road

---

Appeal remains over £12,000 short of its target

X-ray imaging of The Leaning Woman sculpture to help assess damage

September 8, 2023

More than £5,500 has already been pledged in donations to help restore The Leaning Woman sculpture by the Great West Road in Hammersmith.

This comes on top of £11,000 from the charity Heritage of London Trust which raised funds and initiated the statue restoration project and £20,000 from the Community Infrastructure Levy raised by Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

But that still leaves the appeal £12,869 short of its target to preserve the gravity-defying sculpture near the subway near St Peter’s Church and St Peter’s Square.

The reclining sculpture was created by sculptor Karel Vogel, who arrived in Britain from Prague in 1938 after fleeing the Nazis shortly before the Second World War.

It is of a half-nude classical Greek woman doing a sideways limbo movement, and it was commissioned by the old London County Council in 1958 to fill an area of leftover land alongside the A4.

The idea was to be a calming influence on motorists using a stretch of road that was the first multiple carriageway in the UK, and to compensate Hammersmith residents for the intrusion of the road.

The Leaning Woman sculpture beside the A4 in Hammersmith. Picture: Heritage of London Trust

Despite some hostile initial reviews, including one which dubbed it a ‘modern monstrosity’ the statue is generally popular with local people. Vogel died two years after his Leaning Woman was installed on its brick plinth.

Twice life size and cast in concrete (a daring new art material in the 1950s) around a metal frame, the original has been exposed to the elements, as well as pollution from vehicle traffic, for 65 years and now has cracks, while rust from the metal is visible.

In 2017, it was put on the Heritage at Risk Register to acknowledge its importance and highlight the urgency of the need for repair.

The Heritage of London Trust has made a short film about the story of the woman who posed for the sculpture, as told by her son Alex Cardew.

In recent months, Heritage of London Trust's Proud Places programme has brought 60 local pupils to visit the statue. These visits have inspired the children to create their own works of art based on the statue.

“This is such a worthwhile restoration,” said Cllr Sharon Holder, H&F Cabinet Member for Public Realm. “But we still need help to preserve this Grade ll-listed artwork for future generations to enjoy.”

If you would like to donate click here.

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.