We are delighted to report that the application has been agreed, very appropriately on 26 February just before International Women’s Day on 8th March. There was a great deal of public interest in the application and many letters of support and we are so grateful for that. See the comments at https://planningapps.brighton-hove.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=T6QV3XDM0K500

In particular we have been very thankful for the support of local business people who are eager to be part of this historic road’s regeneration. Also for the support of councillors, local members of parliament and numerous council officers who have worked with great professionalism to help. We thank them for their understanding.

This is an accessible site close to the historic buildings where so many suffrage meetings were held and in sight of the Royal Pavilion, which hosted many suffragette meetings including Mary’s own memorial meeting after her death. We chose the site following advice from Brighton & Hove

City Council Heritage Planners and Highways Engineers and discussion with Cllr Jacob Taylor, as well as further consultation with key local trusts and businesses. We are very grateful to them all.

We recognise that there were two or three objections to our application, mostly focussed on road safety and fear of vandalism. We understand these concerns. We are well aware there have been problems of anti-social behaviour in this road and also unsafe movement of traffic – often through the area designated for street furniture, where this statue would be sited. However, we are confident there are effective ways to address these challenges. 

We are committed to continuing to work with the City Council and local businesses to find solutions to any problems. In commons with the many individuals and institutions that supported us, we firmly believe that the statue will play a crucial role in ongoing plans to both regenerate the road and make it safe. 

In her comments on the application, local Ward Councillor Ellen McLeay, stressed the links between commemorating Mary – who was a survivor of domestic abuse as well as a victim of state violence – and Council policy. Ellen McLeay wrote:

“The ethos behind this statue aligns with commitments

already made by Brighton & Hove City Council to support women and girls. This includes the ambition to become the UK capital of women and girls’ sport and BHCC’s work to reduce Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) by 50% over the next decade. At a time when women’s rights are being undermined in many parts of the world, commemorating the struggle that secured women the vote in the UK feels especially important.”

“With a female-led council, including both the Leader and the Chief Executive, this statue reflects the democratic principles at the heart of our city. It represents the 50% whose voices went unheard for far too long.”

The Appeal still needs to raise a further £35,000, but we can write about that another day. 

For now all we want to do is to say thank you to everyone. Thank you so much.

Jean Calder, Chair of Trustees

Our initial proposal was to erect the statue in the Pavilion Gardens near the entrance to the Museum, where most visitors and crucially all school parties would have seen it. Though there was widespread community support, this was opposed by the Royal Pavilion and Museum’s Trust (RPMT). As a consequence, and following advice from Brighton & Hove City Council Heritage Planners and Highways Engineers, we proposed a new site on New Road opposite the Theatre Royal. This is an accessible site close to the historic buildings where so many suffrage meetings were held and in sight of the Royal Pavilion within which Mary’s memorial meeting was held.

Following several months of quiet consultation with local councillors, planners, highways engineers, community associations and conservationists – and crucially neighbours and businesses within New Road – our planning application BH2025/02949 has now been submitted. Public comments will be accepted up until the 16th of February. We hope that interested local people will comment in support of this application using the following link: https://planningapps.brighton-hove.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=T6QV3XDM0K500. Even a few sentences will have great impact.

Our application has focussed on the statue’s educational and cultural  value, raising issues of women’s rights,

equality and democracy. Also Mary’s and the suffragettes’ historic connection with New Road, The Dome and the Royal Pavilion. We have stressed our conviction that the statue  will increase footfall, attracting many visitors and tourists. In particular, we believe the statue could play a key role in the overall regeneration of New Road. We have stressed this point in our planning application, referring to a need to promote public safety, calm traffic and ‘design out’ the anti-social behaviour which has troubled this area.

For more information please look at “The Hidden History of Mary Clarke – Revised and Updated” which can be found on this website under the heading of  “History” . This is an account of Mary’s life, along with a description of the design and the new proposed site. Printed copies are also available.

Please contact us with any comments or ideas via jeancalder.mcsa@gmail.com.

The Pavilion Estate has deep historic ties with the suffrage movement. In 2018 the Dome was declared a site of National Suffrage Interest by Historic England, because so many meetings had taken place there. We know that Mary herself chaired and spoke at a large meeting there in May 1910, seven months before she died. However, we also know that suffrage meetings took place in the Pavilion itself and in the tea rooms adjacent to the Pavilion (almost certainly on the site of the present Pavilion shop). Mary’s memorial service in January 2011 was held in the Pavilion. At least one suffrage meeting took place in the Chapel Royal and we have been informed (though we do not yet have written evidence) that fundraising teas took place in the Gardens.

Our aim is to place Mary’s statue in the Gardens, as close as possible to the entrance to Brighton Museum, where it can be linked to educational displays in the Museum. We hope that every school child, adult resident and visitor will see and recognise the statue as a symbol of the city’s ongoing commitment to democracy, equality and women’s rights.

Mary Clarke was the first suffragette to give her life for women’s right to Vote but, there is no public memorial to her anywhere in the UK. Brighton, where she lived and worked, has few memorials for women and no statues other than of Queen Victoria. 

The Mary Clarke Statue Appeal was set up in late 2018 to fund a statue of Mary Clarke, as a symbol for the city of women’s rights, equality and democracy. The Appeal aims to site the statue in  or very near the Royal Pavilion Estate, where the suffrage movement had strong historic links. The hope is to place it in the garden near the Museum entrance, where it can easily be seen by every school party, resident and visitor. The Appeal needs to raise £60,000.

The Mary Clarke Statue Appeal is pleased to announce that in the past month:

• Charity status has been achieved
• Brighton & Hove City Council has granted the £10,000 previously pledged to fund a bronze maquette (model) of the planned statue
• a sculptor has been chosen, following a short competition for the commission between three excellent sculptors

Denise Dutton MRSS from Leak in Staffordshire has been appointed to make the initial bronze maquette of Mary Clarke and then, provided the funding can be secured, to make the statue. Denise studied sculpture at the prestigious Sir Henry Doulton School of Sculpture in Stoke-on-Trent. She has worked on numerous commissions, both public and private over the past 24 years.

Her works include: the suffragette Annie Kenney, unveiled in December 2018 in Oldham;  the Land Girls and Lumber Jills memorial statue at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas which was unveiled in 2014 by The Countess of Wessex; a portrait bust of Sir Neville Mott Nobel prize winner for physics, at the Mott Building, Cambridge; and a life size equestrian statue of the last Maharajah of India, Duleep Singh, unveiled by Prince Charles.

Denise said:

“I will be pleased to work with the trustees of the Mary Clarke Statue appeal and to be a part of realising their mission in bringing the memory of Mary’s life story to others through the statue. The making of a sculpture goes further than a sheer physical task it’s also about the artist’s engagement with the subject. I feel empathy with Mary, for what for she endured through her life and what she fought for. These emotions will be ever present during the realisation of the commission.”

Jean Calder, the Chair of the Appeal said:

“We are delighted that Denise has agreed to take on this commission. She is a fine sculptor with experience of producing inspirational commemorative work. She also has an excellent understanding of the suffrage movement because of the work she did on the sculpture of Annie Kenney.”

“At Mary’s memorial service in Brighton, local suffragette Isabella McKeown said “Her they must not mourn in silence. They must take the torch from her and light the darkness…”. We are asking local people to take up the torch and support this campaign to commemorate Mary and the ideals for which she gave her life – freedom, democracy and equal rights.”

To donate, click the Donate button above. To support the Appeal in other ways contact jeancalder.mcsa@gmail.com.