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Author Philip Pullman unveils new Bodleian grotesques based on children's designs

12 September 2009

OXFORD - At 10 am on Saturday 12 September - Award-winning children's author Philip Pullman will unveil nine new grotesques, based on children's designs, for one of Oxford University's oldest libraries. The new stone carvings are based on the drawings of nine youngsters from Oxfordshire following a competition launched by the University. The teenagers will see the grotesques on the northwest wall of the Bodleian Library for the very first time when Mr Pullman cuts a giant ribbon at the unveiling ceremony.

The winning designs were selected from hundreds of competition entries, and children's books provided inspiration with designs for the new grotesques including Tweedledum and Tweedledee from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass and the lion Aslan from CS Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. Oxfordshire stone carvers, Alec and Fiona Peever, interpreted and transformed the winners' designs into the finished grotesques.

The University of Oxford decided to stage a competition inviting children to submit their ideas for replacement gargoyles and grotesques because the originals had crumbled away over many years with no historical record of what they had once looked like. The competition, entitled 'Millennium Myths and Monsters', was launched in June 2007 as part of a citywide festival celebrating 1,000 years of Oxfordshire.

Bodley's Librarian, Dr Sarah Thomas, said: 'I am delighted with the new grotesques, particularly given that many of them are based on characters from children's best-loved books. They have been beautifully interpreted by the stone carvers who have managed to create grotesques that work as sculptures and yet still capture the original charm of the children's drawings.'

Head of Building Conservation at the University of Oxford, Isobel Hughes, said: 'I hope the winners will be able to revisit their stone carvings many times, bringing their children and their grandchildren to see them too. The grotesques will stare out over Oxford for hundreds of years and should still be around when the competition winners' grandchildren are old and grey!'

The winners are George O'Connor from Oxford for 'Dodo'; Hannah Duckworth from Oxford for 'Green man'; Henry Chadwick from Oxford for 'Three men in a boat'; Eva Masmanian from Oxford for 'Tweedledum and Tweedledee'; Ben Bryant from Abingdon for 'Wild Boar'; Alfie Turner from Longworth for 'Sir Thomas Bodley'; Hayley Williams from Abingdon for 'Aslan'; Kerrie Chambers from Bicester for 'General Pitt Rivers'; and Alex Sermon from Abingdon for 'From Myths to Monsters' (based on Tolkien characters).

The unveiling will mark the launch of the festival 'Oxford Open Doors', a weekend of events organised by the Oxford Preservation Trust and Oxford University to celebrate the culture of the city and open the colleges and other University buildings to the public.

Debbie Dance, Director of Oxford Preservation Trust, who is leading 'Oxford Open Doors' and is one of the judges of the competition, said: ' We are delighted that the unveiling of the children's grotesques will mark the start of this year's Oxford Open Doors. The grotesques project is a tangible demonstration of the University's commitment to the wider Oxford community as is their support for the open weekend.  Oxford Open Doors offers free access to many buildings and places across town and gown which are not usually open to the public, and with over 130 events taking place there is something for residents and visitors to the city of all ages to enjoy.'

Journalists and photographers are invited to attend the unveiling at the Bodleian Library next to the Divinity School in Broad Street, Oxford, at 10am on Saturday 12 September 2009.

Please contact the Press Office after the event if you want photographs.

For more information about photographs or interviews, please contact the University of Oxford Press Office on 01865 280534(weekdays) or 07738 135619 (weekends) or email: press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk..

Debbie Dance, Director, Oxford Preservation Trust Tel: 01865 242918, mobile: 07860 160900 (weekend).email:  d.dance@oxfordpreservation.org.uk 

Notes for editors

  • The Bodleian Library first opened to scholars in 1602; it incorporates an earlier library erected by the University in the fifteenth century to house books donated by Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester. Since 1602 it has expanded, slowly at first but with increasing momentum over the last 150 years, to keep pace with the ever-growing accumulation of books and papers, but the core of the old buildings has remained intact. For more information, go to www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/bodley/about/history
  • In June 2007, the University of Oxford invited anyone studying, living or working in Oxfordshire, between the ages of eight and 18, to submit their sketch of a gargoyle design. Their ideas needed to be based on one of three themes - myths, monsters or people - and have a historical connection with Oxfordshire within the last millennium.
  • A gargoyle is a grotesque carved human or animal face or figure projecting from the gutter of a building, usually as a spout to carry water clear of a wall. A grotesque is a stone carving that does not act as a waterspout. Medieval craftsmen were often given free reign to produce their flight of fancy - common themes were love and fear, but they sometimes offered a political or social commentary, and were often very funny.
  • For more information about 'Oxford Open Doors' (12-13 September 2009), go to www.oxfordopendoors.org.uk
  • The competition winners were invited to a workshop at the Peevers' studio in December 2008. To view the video containing an interview with Alec Peever, go to www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2008/081208.html
  • To see the winners' original drawings, go to www.ox.ac.uk/public_affairs/community_relations/gargoyles/designagargoyle.html
  • To watch interviews with the winners of the Find a Gargoyle competition, go to www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2007/071214a.html

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