NEWS RELEASES
"Iggy" is Coming Home!
12th December 2006
Unlike the European and World Cups which were, according to pop stars, “coming home” but never did, “Iggy” is definitely coming home. For “Iggy” (the popular nickname for Southwater’s Iguanodon) is coming home to the village of his burial. Found in the 1920s, the fossil remains of the 5-tonne dinosaur have been held in Worthing Museum. Thanks to the Borough Council, the remains will be the centrepiece of a stunning temporary exhibition to be held in Southwater’s new Library.
The exhibition, mounted by Horsham Museum, will display and tell the story of the dinosaur’s discovery. It will go on to explain how the Iguanodon was used as the logo of the Southwater & Dorking Brick Company, which spread the name of Southwater around the globe from Hove in Sussex to Canberra in Australia, and how one publicity stunt at the Ideal Home Exhibition had a brick cocktail bar in the shape of the Dinosaur.
Opening after the unveiling of a bronze iguanodon sculpture by Hannah Stewart, the exhibition will explore many of the unusual stories behind the fascinating development in Lintot Square that has been constructed to give a physical heart to a thriving community. The Library is housed in Beeson House#but who was, or is, Beeson? Thanks to the children of Mary and Colin Beeson, their story is told, explaining to those who never met them, their contribution to Southwater in the years of its rapid growth.
Beeson House is part of the Lintot Square development. Why Lintot? Lintot was Southwater’s greatest son, the man who changed the face of 18th century knowledge and revolutionised the book trade. Using rare examples of his celebrated works, his story and the changes he made to the look of books will be explored. In his day, his prestige was such that the author of Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift, wrote a poem about him comparing him to the ‘greats’ of the publishing trade. In many respects, Lintot Square symbolises his contribution, for, like Lintot, the Square draws on the best of the past but gives it a modern face: the humanity and scale of Georgian architecture but with a modern look.
The development itself uses bricks for most of its facades. The story of how Southwater rose to international importance through the brick industry is explored in a stunning set of photographs taken from the personal archive of the Whitehouse family, directors of the brick company. It was while the clay was being dug for brick-making that “Iggy” was discovered and it was this that led to the decision to ask Pulborough-based artist Hannah Stewart to create a bronze statue. The story of how she went about the work is told through image and text.
Hannah’s creation is compared with another statue of an iguanodon#one that was equally cutting edge#the iguanodon built in 1853 at Crystal Palace. On display in the exhibition will be a 1/20th scale model of that dinosaur and the contrast between the two is amazing and revealing.
The decision to create a bronze iguanodon as the centrepiece of Lintot Square inspired two local schools, Southwater Junior and Forest Boys, under the guidance of Forest Art Teacher, Marilyn Amos, to create terracotta and clay plaques. Southwater Juniors’ vision is abstract, using the fossils to suggest three-dimensional patterns, whilst Forest’s work is more narrative, recreating scenes from prehistoric life. These artworks, which dominate the main stairwell of Beeson House, will also be unveiled on the day.
However, the multi-faceted exhibition doesn’t end there. To provide a context to all these developments, the Southwater Art Group is exhibiting paintings portraying aspects of Southwater history.
The exhibition runs from 15th December 2006 to the end of January at Southwater Library and may be seen during Library opening hours.
For further information contact Jeremy Knight, Curator of Horsham Museum, on 01403 254959, or e-mail: jeremy.knight@horsham.gov.uk
Horsham Museum, 9 Causeway, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1HE.
Tel: (01403) 254959 Fax: (01403) 282594
Email: museum@horsham.gov.uk
www.horshammuseum.org