Walter Ritchie Sculpture Becomes Centrepiece of the New North Leamington School’s ‘Heritage Trail’
Former pupils of Leamington Girls’ College, will be pleased to know that North Leamington School has re-located the Walter Ritchie sculpture from the Cloister Way site to the new Sandy Lane site as the first act in creating a ‘heritage trail’ at the new school.
Rick Brown, Assistant Headteacher and Project Manager, masterminded this important and delicate operation, moving the sculpture to its new position, high on the end-wall of the Science & Maths faculty building at the new Sandy Lane site. This location is perfect, as if the sculpture has at last found its natural home after years of being hidden away.
The sculpture was created by Walter Ritchie in 1961; it is entitled Three Aspects of a Girl’s Education and was commissioned by Warwickshire Education Committee as a feature for Leamington Girls’ College. The 3 female figures on the sculpture are Boudicca/Boadicea, Florence Nightingale and Marie Curie.
Walter Ritchie was a well-known local sculptor during the second half of the 20th Century; he saw sculpture as an essential component of architecture and civic life, and his work can be found on public buildings in many parts of the region.
Headteacher, David Hazeldine, said: "I believe that, if he were alive today, Walter Ritchie would be delighted with the appropriateness of his sculpture’s new context (he died in 1997).
"We have tried to ensure that his sculpture becomes an iconic ‘signature’ for the new building, connecting the school’s past with its future and forming the centrepiece of our ‘heritage trail’.