A STRIKING life-size statue of Southend champion Sir David Amess is set to be unveiled on Chalkwell seafront after Easter.
Formal plans have now been lodged with Southend Council for the striking new statue, honouring the memory of the man who served with distinction as MP.
Sir David was brutally murdered in his constituency office in Leigh on October 15, 2021. Days later, the Government announced Southend would become a city in memory of Sir David, who campaigned tirelessly to secure the honour.
As a fitting memorial, sculptor Andrew Lilley, has created a beautiful bronze statue depicting Sir David holding sheaves of paper marked “Southend for City Status”. It is due to be unveiled just after Easter in early April. Details on the unveiling are yet to be revealed.
Mr Lilley said: “I started working on it back in winter of 2022, so it has been a long time coming.
“I just felt that Sir David was a very honourable, exemplary person, that I believed should be honoured with a statue. So, I undertook to begin it.
“I think it is an ideal location. It is in a place that was very dear to Sir David himself. Where he walked almost every day. I also know it is a place where his family remember him dearly, so it is special to put it there.
“The sculpture, which is life-size, is now being cast in bronze. I had to work from photographs, so it took me more than eight months to sculpt him working from as many pictures as I could get.
“I sculptured him in clay, and now it has been taken to be cast in bronze. It makes me feel proud looking back already.
“It should be completed in the first week of March.
“The statue will then be unveiled just after Easter in early April.”
The application, lodged with Southend Council, says the sculpture of Sir David should be located in heart of Southend West along Chalkwell Esplanade, where Sir David was often found out and about talking to residents and visitors.
Mr Lilley’s work has often depicted prominent people from the UK and overseas.
Anna Firth, MP for Southend West, added: “I am delighted that plans have now been submitted for the statue of Sir David Amess in Southend, this will be a fitting tribute to a man who dedicated his life to public service and to the people of Southend and I look forward to its unveiling in due course.”
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