The statue in the Market Square
The bronze figure in the centre of the Market Square shows the woman the town calls the Lilac Sorceress, cloaked, with her right hand raised towards the bridge and a spray of lilac in it. It was unveiled on Thursday 19 May 1898.
The statue
The figure is of bronze, 2.1 metres high, on a plinth of local stone 2.6 metres high. It faces south down Bridge Street towards the Town Bridge. The sculptor was Annie Sowter (1861–1934), who had trained in London and was then living in the town with her brother, the curate of St Laurence’s. The plaster model she made for the committee is in the Lilac Room at the museum.
On the front of the plinth is a bronze panel with the inscription:
IN THANKFULNESS FOR THE DELIVERANCE OF THIS TOWN FROM THE GREAT WATER OF 1648. ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION, 1898.
How it came to be made
The statue was proposed in 1896 by the Mayor, who wanted the town to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with something of its own rather than a clock tower. A committee was formed, the legend was printed as a pamphlet to raise subscriptions, and 412 people subscribed, from the brewery’s £100 to many gifts of a shilling. The bronze was cast in London and brought to the town by rail.
The unveiling, on 19 May 1898, was a holiday in the town, with a procession from the Town Hall, the band, a hymn and a tea for the children in Bridge Meadow. The day was repeated the next May, as the first Lilac Fair.
Looking after it
The statue belongs to the town council. Since 1991 the Trust has looked after it under an agreement with the council: we inspect it twice a year, have it washed and waxed every three years, look after the two lilacs beside the steps, and arrange the wreath each May.
A survey in January 2026 found active corrosion on the bronze and open joints in the plinth. A heritage grant of £28,500 and £6,000 set aside by the trustees will pay for most of the conservation; the Trust’s appeal is raising the rest. The work is planned for the spring, before the Lilac Fair. See News.
Please do not climb on the plinth. If you see damage to the statue, please tell the museum desk.