Tuesday, March 08, 2022

BRIGG IS GLAD TO HAVE SO MANY DISTINCTIVE SCULPTURES

Unique sculptures at Brigg licensed premises - the Dying Gladiator pub and the Exchange Coach House  Inn


Although Brigg is a small market town in terms of population, it has a large range of sculptures which the public can  admire.
A sculpture-related comment made during the latest Brigg Town Council meeting by long-serving Coun Ann Eardley prompted us to reflect on this topic today.
A horse sculpture was commissioned to mark the 800th anniversary of Brigg obtaining its royal charter to hold fairs early in the 13th century.
Fashioned from wood, it used to be located near the entrance to the Angel Suite but moved, not too long ago, when reorganisation of this public building saw a new Town Council office established on the top floor of the Angel building.
A council competition a few years ago invited designs from young people for a new Holocaust Memorial, to be erected on the Millennium Green, off Elwes Street.
This was won by Izzy Roberts, from Sir John Nelthorpe School.
The memorial she designed was constructed using Corten steel and is central to the town's Holocaust Memorial Service held annually in late January.
Also on public view is the Dying Gladiator pub's unique sculpture on Bigby Street.
A member of the family which ran this hostelry in the mid-19th century visited The Vatican as part of a European tour and a sculpture he saw inspired him to install something similar to adorn the pub's entrance after he returned home.
Another sculpture of local significance stands in the courtyard adjoining the Exchange Coach House Inn, Bigby Street.
Known as The Laughing Policeman, it was commissioned to mark the valuable work undertaken by affable Brigg-based officer Sgt Robin Triffitt, who retired from the force in 1990.
He used to visit premises across the town in the evenings, chatting with customers and licensees and ensuring that all was well.
Such traditional community policing was appreciated on both sides of the bar.
Robin, in his own quiet way, ensured that 'drinking up time' was enforced in accordance with the licensing laws, and that locals left safely and returned home in good spirits.
Exchange owner Joe Mullen commissioned Brigg man Rex Howson to produce this 'Local Bobby' sculpture.
Machinery specialists Peacock & Binnington, which have been serving the agricultural community in North Lincolnshire faithfully since the late Victorian era, commissioned a special sculpture in 1994 to mark their 100th anniversary.
This metal showpiece stands near the front of the company's Old Foundry premises near Bridge Street, Kiln Lane and Ancholme Way and represents "the turn of the furrow."

PICTURED: Above - The Dying Gladiator and Laughing Policeman sculptures. Below - The Peacock & Binnington sculpture near the A18, the Brigg Fair Horse within the Angel 'hub' building, and the Holocaust Memorial Sculpture on the Millennium Green.

 

The Peacock & Binnington agricultural sculpture in Brigg which marked the firm's 100th anniversary in 1994

 

The Holocaust Memorial on the Millennium Green in Brigg

 

The Brigg Fair sculpture of a horse outside the Town Council's office in the Angel building