There are so few statues of women in the UK. Only in 2022, Mary Anning became the first non-royal woman to be commemorated in this way in Dorset.
Now plans are afoot to celebrate another of Dorset’s trailblazing dames, with a statue of writer and LGBTQ+ pioneer Sylvia Townsend Warner in Dorchester’s South
Street.
A public vote was held to decide who to celebrate, and now Sylvia will join the six statues of men in Dorchester.
Warner lived for many years in Frome Vauchurch, on the edge of Maiden Newton. She is famed for many novels including The Flint Anchor, The Salutation and Winter in the Air and she wrote many of her works in the village.

She died in 1978, aged 84 and is still remembered fondly by many residents, who say she was a generous soul who would contribute towards people’s bills at
Christmas. Warner’s Marxist leanings were sparked by the growing fascist movement at the time, and this activism informed many of her works, as did her sexuality.
Mark Chutter, chairman and academic director of the Thomas Hardy Society, said: “Sylvia Townsend Warner was a prolific writer and poet whose career spanned six
decades, producing some of the most varied, witty, and revolutionary work of her time. Yet, despite her remarkable contributions, her name is rarely mentioned and
remains absent from Dorset’s literary landscape.

“Townsend Warner’s personal life was just as remarkable as her literary achievements. She spent most of her adult life in rural Dorset with poet Valentine Ackland, her longterm partner. At a time when same-sex relationships were heavily stigmatised, their partnership defied societal expectations, positioning both Townsend Warner and Ackland as pioneers for LGBTQ+ visibility and acceptance.”
Tracy Chevalier, author and patron of Visible Women UK, said: “When people think of Dorset writers, they tend to think of men. Thomas Hardy and the poet William Barnes; that’s why I’m so delighted that there is going to be a statue of Townsend Warner, who spent most of her life in Dorset. I think it’s great she will finally be acknowledged alongside the men.”
Denise Dutton, who created the beautiful Mary Anning statue in Lyme Regis, will be making the statue, which will feature a cat. Sylvia was an avid cat lover, and it has been decided to also immortalise Dorchester’s famous puss Susie.