British Ironworks Centre & Shropshire Sculpture Park

British Ironworks Centre & Shropshire Sculpture Park
Metal gorilla constructed from 40,000 spoons at the sculpture park of the British Ironworks Centre
Location Aston, Oswestry, Shropshire, England
Coordinates 52°30′13″N 2°35′37″E / 52.50365°N 2.59372°E / 52.50365; 2.59372
Type Indoor/outdoor sculpture park
Forge
Visitors centre
Director Chris Knowles[1]

The British Ironworks Centre & Shropshire Sculpture Park is a forge, silversmiths and bric-a-brac shop near to 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

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 the gardens of Buckingham Palace.[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 they first batch of 1,000 sold out within hours.[5]

Spoons Gorilla

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

In 2014, Alfie Bradley and the British Ironworks Centre, launched a new incentive called the 'Save a Life, Surrender Your Knife' campaign.[8] They encouraged a knife amnesty in conjunction with local police forces across the United Kingdom to enable them to build/sculpt an angel statue that will be 20 ft (6.1 m) high when completed. Many knives were sent in with at least one consignment containing explosives that were packaged incorrectly. This necessitated Ministry of Defence bomb disposal personnel being called out and performing a controlled explosion.[9]

Relatives of those killed by knife crime have been invited to engrave blades as part of the sculpture.[10] As of October 2016, the work is nearing completion and is set to include 100,000 knives, blades, swords and other weapons used in violent crime from across 43 Police Forces in the United Kingdom.[11] A campaign is underway to have the finished sculpture installed at Trafalgar Square in London.[12] Clive Knowles, chairman of the British Ironworks Centre criticised 6 police forces across England and Wales from not getting involved with the project. So far, 37 forces have responded to the request and sent knives in to the centre from amnesties held across their force's boundaries. The Home Office said that it supported the project, but participation was down to each individual force to decide for themselves.[13]

The centre and the sculptor (Alfie Bradley has been a victim of knife crime himself) have been criticized by some relatives of the victims of knife crime, but have also been praised by others.[14] The sculpture is one of hundreds that have been nominated in 2018 for listed status.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "British Ironwork Centre in bid to solve plans issue over Oswestry HQ". Shropshire Star. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  2. ↑ "126" (Map). Shrewsbury & Oswestry. 1:50,000. Landranger. Ordnance Survey. 2016. ISBN 9780319262245.
  3. ↑ "British Ironworks and Shropshire sculpture park". britishironworkcentre.co.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "The British Ironworks Centre to provide garden pavilions to Buckingham Palace". Cheshire Life. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "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.
  6. ↑ "Ironworks centre plans knife angel after Uri Geller gorilla". BBC News. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  7. ↑ Oppenheim, Maya (17 May 2014). "Giant gorilla statue made of spoons unveiled for Uri Geller". The Independent. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "Amnesty knives will be made into statue for victims". Telegraph and Argus. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "British Ironworks Centre 'was sent explosives by police'". BBC News. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "Mother backs knife crime memorial". BBC News. 1 January 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "Knives turned into victim sculpture in Oswestry". BBC News. 10 April 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  12. ↑ Elgot, Jessica (10 December 2015). "'Knife angel' made from 100,000 seized blades divides opinion". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  13. ↑ Narwan, Gurpreet (21 November 2016). "Angle tribute to knife victims in danger as police drag their feet". The Times (72073). p. 13. ISSN 0140-0460.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ "Listed status bid for lost memorials". BBC News. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.

Coordinates: 52°50′36.5″N 2°59′37.2″W / 52.843472°N 2.993667°W / 52.843472; -2.993667

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