British Ironworks Centre & Shropshire Sculpture Park
 Metal gorilla constructed from 40,000 spoons at the sculpture park of the British Ironworks Centre | |
  Location within Shropshire | |
| Location | Aston, Oswestry, Shropshire, England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°50′37″N 2°59′36″W / 52.8436°N 2.9933°W |
| Type | Indoor/outdoor sculpture park Forge Visitors centre |
| Director | Clive Knowles[1] |
The British Ironworks Centre & Shropshire Sculpture Park is a forge, silversmiths and sculpture park with a large showroom near Oswestry in Shropshire, England. The centre is famous for its safari park of sculptures, mostly in metal, and its gorilla made entirely of spoons. The centre is located on the A5 road 3.1 miles (5 km) south east of Oswestry town.[2]
On site, the centre has a shop, café, forge, silversmiths, clock repairer, sculpture park and falconry.[3]
History[edit]
In 2013, the centre was asked to create four iron pavilions to celebrate the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. The order came from Buckingham Palace, and the pavilions would be used as entrances to the celebrations being held in its gardens.[4]
The centre have also handcrafted steel forget-me-nots for a charity fundraiser for a local hospice. One thousand of the steel flowers were unveiled in April 2016, and a hasty re-order was required when the first batch of 1,000 sold out within hours.[5]
Spoons Gorilla[edit]
In 2013, illusionist Uri Geller commissioned the centre to create a 12 ft (3.7 m) high gorilla from spoons sent in from around the world.[6] Initially 6,000 spoons were donated from across the globe including one that used to belong to Winston Churchill. When the project was complete the final tally was 40,000 spoons from as far afield as China, India, Kenya, Armenia and Tahiti . Whilst Geller commissioned the piece, it was funded by the Ironworks Centre.[7]
The gorilla sculpture was created by sculptor Alfie Bradley over 5 months and was unveiled by Prince Michael of Kent in 2014. The sculpture was taken to Uri Geller's house in the same year, but is now on display back at the centre.
Knife Angel[edit]
In 2014, Alfie Bradley and the British Ironworks Centre launched a new incentive called the 'Save a Life, Surrender Your Knife' campaign.[8] This project ultimately resulted in a 27-foot-tall sculpture, Knife Angel. The artist and the Centre encouraged a knife amnesty in conjunction with local police forces across the United Kingdom, to enable them to build/sculpt an angel statue. Initially only 37 police forces responded and sent in knives. Clive Knowles, chairman of the British Ironworks Centre, criticised six police forces across England and Wales from not getting involved with the project.[9] By the projects completion, all 43 police forces contributed to the total 100,000 knives, blades, swords and other weapons used in violent crime.[10] In addition to these blades, one consignment contained explosives that were packaged incorrectly. This necessitated Ministry of Defence bomb disposal personnel being called out and performing a controlled explosion.[11]
The centre and the sculptor have been criticized by some relatives of the victims of knife crime, but have also been praised by others.[12] At least 80 families left personal messages engraved into the blades.[13] The artist was a victim of knife crime himself.
The sculpture was completed in 2018. In the year following its completion, the work was transported on a nationwide tour in order to highlight an anti-violence message.[14][15] The sculpture is one of hundreds that have been nominated in 2018 for listed status.[16]
References[edit]
- ^ "British Ironwork Centre in bid to solve plans issue over Oswestry HQ". Shropshire Star. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ "126" (Map). Shrewsbury & Oswestry. 1:50,000. Landranger. Ordnance Survey. 2016. ISBN 9780319262245.
- ^ "British Ironworks and Shropshire sculpture park". britishironworkcentre.co.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ "The British Ironworks Centre to provide garden pavilions to Buckingham Palace". Cheshire Life. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ "Severn Hospice 'overwhelmed' by interest in Forget Me Not Appeal as first 1000 flowers sell out in hours". ITV News. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ "Ironworks centre plans knife angel after Uri Geller gorilla". BBC News. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ Oppenheim, Maya (17 May 2014). "Giant gorilla statue made of spoons unveiled for Uri Geller". The Independent. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ "Amnesty knives will be made into statue for victims". Telegraph and Argus. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ Narwan, Gurpreet (21 November 2016). "Angle tribute to knife victims in danger as police drag their feet". The Times. No. 72073. p. 13. ISSN 0140-0460.
- ^ "Knives turned into victim sculpture in Oswestry". BBC News. 10 April 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ "British Ironworks Centre 'was sent explosives by police'". BBC News. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ Bullen, Jamie (16 December 2015). "Creators of 24ft 'Knife Angel' defend sculpture over claims it will 'glorify' knife crime". Evening Standard. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ "Mother backs knife crime memorial". BBC News. 1 January 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ "National Monument Against Violence & Aggression". www.britishironworkcentre.co.uk. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ "The Knife Angel UK Tour". www.britishironworkcentre.co.uk. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ "Listed status bid for lost memorials". BBC News. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.