A Newtown landmark of one of the town’s most famous residents has been handed Grade II listed status.
The lifesize statue of Robert Owen, located in a memorial garden between Shortbridge Street and Gas Street, has been listed by Cadw as a “fine piece of 20th Century commemorative sculpture by noted sculptors” and for its association with the famous Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer.
Esteemed sculptor Gilbert Bayes was commissioned to create the Robert Owen memorial statue but it was completed three years after his death in 1956 by William Charles Holland King.
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A former President of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, Bayes' main works are Selfridges’ great clock, the great seal of HM King George V and the Seagrave Trophy.
After Robert Owen died in Newtown in 1858, a fund was set up for a memorial to the instigator of the co-operative movement and founder of British socialism. However, there was opposition to the erection of a statue in Newtown because of Owen’s atheism.
It was not until 1950 that a committee was established to consider the erection of a statue with funds provided by the Cooperative Union.
The garden was created on previous open space in 1936, originally dedicated to the memory of George V, who died that year. It acquired its new name following the erection of the Robert Owen statue in 1956, and was refurbished in 2016.
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