Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Statue bid given green light
A statue of Christopher Marlowe will take pride of place in Canterbury city centre after the project was green-lit by the council.
The famous playwright will be immortalised in an iron sculpture beside the St George’s clocktower, where he was baptised.
It will take up residence at the top end of the high street, replacing a digital information board outside Halifax.
The city council rubber-stamped the plans this week after no objections were lodged.
It will be of similar design to the rusting look of the iron bull in Tannery Field, and will be created by the same sculptor, Steven Portchmouth.
In evaluating the project, council planning officers weighed up its impact on the city’s World Heritage status and whether it would be suitable for one of the busiest areas of the high street.
A decision notice from officers states: “It will sit in a prominent position within the street scene along St George’s Street. However, due to its height and position it will not impede any key views towards the identified heritage assets.
“The significance of the Grade Ii-listed scheduled monument of St George’s clocktower is its association to Marlowe, therefore the location of the statue is considered to be appropriate as he has a direct connection to the site.
“The proposed statue is therefore considered to be acceptable and would preserve the setting of the listed buildings.”
Designs of the statue show Marlowe holding up the masks of Tragedy and Comedy, while also grasping a dagger as he fears an approach from his left conveying his life as both a playwright and a government agent.
It will stand on a plinth, and Marlowe’s famous poem ‘Come Live With Me and Be My Love’ is to be engraved around the bottom.
Those behind the scheme - the Canterbury Christopher Marlowe Statue Committee - hope it can help the city celebrate its dramatist in the way in which Stratford recognises Shakespeare.