Paradise brings back statues of major Birmingham figures
Two of Birmingham’s most important and influential historic figures, James Watt and Joseph Priestley, have had their statues returned to the city centre after an absence of ten years.
The imposing pair – both leading lights of the Industrial Revolution and the English Enlightenment – now proudly complete and stand at opposite ends of Ratcliff Passage, the new Paradise public realm between Three Chamberlain Square and the Grade I listed Town Hall.
Once sited alongside the original Victorian era Central Library, where Three Chamberlain Square sits today, the statues were later moved to the western part of Chamberlain Square where they stood for a further 46 years before being put into safe storage when the redevelopment of Paradise began.
Brought back to life by Market Drayton-based Midland Masonry, specialists in stonework conservation and restoration, as well as Ian Clark Restoration providing specialist metalwork conservation, both Priestley and Watt have undergone a lot of work over the past year as they’ve been prepared for their return. The work has been supported by the government’s Enterprise Zone funding.
Poised on their three-metre high plinths, the statues themselves stand 2.5 metres tall, giving them each combined heights of 5.5 metres. Watt’s statue was cast in Portland stone in 1868, while Priestley’s original marble statue dates from 1874, but had deteriorated so much by 1951 he had to be re-cast in more durable bronze.
Ratcliff Passage also brings some stunning new mature trees to the estate and creates a spacious boulevard between the Town Hall and the rest of Paradise. It’s an important space that works on many different levels and creates easy access to and from Three Chamberlain Square for the thousands of people who have begun to work there.
Ross Fittall, Regional Development Director at Paradise developer and asset-manager MEPC, the specialist development arm of Federated Hermes, said:
Welcoming back both James Watt and Joseph Priestley is a key moment not just for Paradise, but for the whole of the city of Birmingham. As key figures in both the Industrial Revolution and the English Enlightenment, they helped deliver the change that led to the modern world we have today.
“With the return of these important artifacts of our shared history, we remember two important individuals who helped to shape not just the world around us, but also the city’s and the country’s history and Birmingham’s vital place within it.”
Pat Hanlon, Non-Executive Director, Enterprise Zone Partnership Board, said:
The extensive, game-changing new public realm already built across Paradise, created with public funding administered by the Geater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP), has already proved itself in helping to create a whole new destination in the heart of Birmingham with improved connectivity and pedestrian access.
“The economic growth and benefits of Paradise can already be felt across the city and region. The development has not just created new places everyone can enjoy, it has brought thousands of new jobs right into the centre of the city by providing a world-class commercial environment conducive to private sector investment.”
Jane Thompson Webb, Conservation Manager at Birmingham Museums Trust, custodians of the statues on behalf of the city, said:
The return of these vital figures to an accessible location in the very heart of the city will allow everyone to be able to enjoy them and underlines our pride in both Watt and Priestley’s achievements which influenced the world around us today.
“So many of the advantages society now enjoys are due in part to the vital role of engineering solutions and the brilliance and foresight of people like Priestley and Watt whose advances in science and industry gave an incredible boost to the world economy at a key moment in history.”
For more on the life and works of Priestley and Watt, visit: Statues to Return to Ratcliff Passage – Paradise Birmingham
