Shropshire Council HQ plays host to The Royal British Legion centenary poppy sculpture
A collaborative art sculpture to mark the World War I centenary is being displayed at Shropshire Council’s headquarters Shirehall in Shrewsbury.
Poppy sculpture
The sculpture, unveiled by The Royal British Legion’s Shropshire Poppy Appeal and St Chad’s Church in June 2018, was created by two local artists, Lyn Evans and Nik Burns, alongside Martin Phillips of Heritage Schools, to remember all from the county who gave their lives in the Great War.
Torn paper artist Lyn and metal work artist Nik were tasked with finding a way to mark the centenary in a way which reflects Shropshire.
(l-to-r) Clive Wright, Shropshire Council chief executive; Peter Nutting, Leader of Shropshire Council; Councillor Karen Calder; Ann Hartley, Chair of Shropshire Council, with the poppy sculpture
To enable them to do this, 81 primary schools in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin were called upon to write the names of the fallen from their parish war memorials on poppies. They wanted to make the next generation truly part of this project and connect them to their past and Shropshire’s history.
Poppy sculpture
The 5,286 names displayed on the sculpture were gathered in the Shropshire Roll of Honour, which was compiled by two local amateur military historians, Neil Evans and Phil Morris, and funded by public and trust donations. Every man and woman listed in this Roll of Honour will be remembered in a service in the week of the 100th anniversary of their death, ensuring that every individual is valued and their sacrifice honoured.
Councillor Karen Calder said:
“We are honoured to have this beautiful and poignant sculpture at Shirehall.
“Involving Shropshire children in its creation was a brilliant idea. It’s important that we all remember, all year round, those who lost their lives to change our world.”
The sculpture is free to view, and will be located at Shirehall until October, after which it will continue its tour of the county before finishing back at St Chad’s in June 2019 to mark the signing of the Armistice.
