Stunning design for Cranogwen statue to be placed in Llangrannog revealed

The design for a statue of Cranogwen to be erected in Ceredigion has been revealed.

The life-size bronze statue is to be placed at Llangrannog Welfare Memorial Garden, which is on the road down to Llangrannog beach.

The statue design was revealed on the Facebook page of Ceredigion Senedd member Elin Jones.

Local and national historical figure Sarah Jane Rees, best known for her bardic name Cranogwen, and referred to by Professor Deirdre Beddoe as “the most outstanding Welsh woman of the nineteenth century”, was a prominent mariner, poet, journalist, preacher and campaigner and the first woman to win a bardic prize at the National Eisteddfod.

The campaign to place the statue in Llangrannog has been the work of Monumental Welsh Women who want to increase the number of public statues of real women in Wales.

The statue of Sarah Jane Rees will be the third of a named Welsh woman elected in the country after Betty Campbell was unveiled in Cardiff in September of last year and a statue of Elaine Morgan was unveiled in Mountain Ash on March 18.

Acclaimed artist Sebastien Boyesen was brought in to complete the design after campaigners hit a £20,000 online fundraising target.

The sculpture will commemorate Cranogwen’s extraordinary life and her many and varied achievements, made despite the widespread sentiment against women working outside the home and with the limited opportunities available to them in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Sebastien Boyesen has said of the commission: “Being commissioned to create the statue of Cranogwen is both an honour and privilege and is something I would consider to be a highlight of my career.

“I look forward to developing the work with our amazing team including working with Keziah as an emerging sculptor mentee, and hope that I can repay the trust placed in me by creating a wonderful legacy for the village and wider community that celebrates the achievements of an inspirational Welsh woman.”