Monument to Lord Nelson, Great Yarmouth
(detail)
photo - NRP


Woman on pillar,
RIBA, London.
James Woodford, 1934

photo - Jeremy Haslam

Click image to view
larger version

     

Go to the NRP On-line database

National Recording Project (NRP)

Public sculpture survey, on-line database and volumes

BRITAIN’S ONLY ONLINE DATABASE: A UNIQUE RESOURCE FOR STUDENTS & RESEARCHERS, CONSERVATORS, LOCAL HISTORIANS, ART BUFFS, ENTHUSIASTS, GENEALOGISTS AND ALL WHO WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT PUBLIC SCULPTURE: STATUES / OBELISKS / COLUMNS / SCULPTURES / INSTALLATIONS / FOUNTAINS, FOLLIES, COMMEMORATIVE CLOCKS, WAYSIDE MARKERS, TOWERS – FROM THE STUART ERA TO THE PRESENT DAY

PUBLIC SCULPTURE: YOUR QUE?TIONS ANSWERED

Who


go to the NRP On-line database / Hartlepool, HAAA16 / Sculpture, The Watcher

Where


go to the NRP On-line database / Leicester, LE159TCAY / Sculpture, Thomas Cook Reliefs, Former Thomas Cook Building

When


go to the NRP On-line database / Ebbw Vale / BLGW001 / Aneurin Bevan Commemorative Stones

What


go to the NRP On-line database / Curry Rivel, SO97 / Owl and Pussycat

Why


go to the NRP On-line database / Poplar, TH062, Statue, Richard Green


WAITING ... to be added to the NRP On-line database / Great Yarmouth, NFgyGO002, Statue, Cissie Violet Drummee (when funds are forthcoming)

About this database

  • The PMSA National Recording Project database of public statues, sculptures and monuments was set up from 1992 under Heritage Lottery Fund, and other, grants.
  • The database covers some, but not all, counties or administrative areas in England; all of Wales; Glasgow.
  • Entries appear in alphabetical order under place names, county by county (or by administrative area)*.
  • The database holds over 9,000 entries, many accompanied by an image.
  • Under headings such as “Title”, “Sculptor” or “Year of unveiling”, the entries contain core data about commemorative and / or sculptural features in the urban or rural landscape.
  • Each entry also contains a brief but comprehensive narrative historical account of the object, where known.
  • The database has a basic search facility.

*The following counties and administrative areas have been surveyed to date (note places are listed alphabetically under county or administrative area headings)

Bristol and S.W. England
Bournemouth / Bristol / Cornwall / Council of the Isles of Scilly / Devon / Dorset / Gloucestershire / South Gloucestershire / Swindon

East London
Greater London

Edinburgh
Lothian

Manchester
Greater Manchester

North-East England
Cleveland area / Durham County / Northumberland County / Tyne and Wear

Somerset and Wiltshire
Somerset / Wiltshire [for King Alfred’s Tower, Stourhead, see Bristol and S.W. England]

Western Central Counties
Herefordshire / Shropshire / Staffordshire / Warwickshire / West Midlands / Worcestershire

Central London
Greater London Boroughs

East Midlands
Leicestershire / Rutland

Glasgow
Glasgow

Merseyside and Cheshire
Cheshire / Merseyside

Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire / Notts

Wales [Tredegar, BLGW004, Medallion, Aneurin Bevan Memorial ]
Anglesey / Blaenau Gwent / Bridgend / Caerphilly / Cardiff / Carmarthenshire / Ceredigion / Conwy / Denbighshire / Flintshire / Gwynedd / Merthyr Tydfil / Monmouthshire / Neath Port Talbot / Newport / Pembrokeshire / Powys / Rhondda Cynon Taff / Swansea / Vale of Glamorgan / Torfaen / Wrexham

Funds are being sought to allow completion of the national survey and to radically upgrade, extend and maintain the database

NRP STRUCTURE

The country is divided into Regional Archive Centres (RACs), mostly run from academic institutions. Each is responsible for the survey and digitised record of its local area, the information from which is then to be conveyed to the National Archive Centre (NAC) for collation, storage and dissemination in digital form. Each RAC is also invited to do further in-depth research and to contribute to the series of volumes Public Sculpture of Britain [publication cannot necessarily be guaranteed]. These are published by the Liverpool University Press (Go to Publications )

NRP HISTORY

Phase Two of the National Recording Project (1998-2002) was supported by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) of £470,000, plus matched funding from each collaborating institution to make a project worth £1m. The Phase Two grant was awarded in 1997 and was partially completed in March 2002. Additional support has been provided by a number of sponsors such as the Henry Moore Foundation, Pilgrim Trust, Regional Arts Boards and charitable foundations. All funding is acknowledged by RACs in their printed and digital publications.

CURRENT PROGRESS

Most recently, a £44,000 three-year grant from English Heritage's National Capacity Building Programme has contributed towards completion of the geographical map, promotion of the existing database and a fund-raising programme for NRP Phase Three (updating and maintenance of the database and website). Funding is currently being sought for a major upgrade of the NRP database. Grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund (‘Your Heritage’) have allowed two new Regional Archive centres to make surveys (RAC Norfolk and Suffolk at the University of East Anglia and RAC Sussex at the University of Brighton). Other active Regional Archive Centres are RACs W. Yorkshire (University of Leeds), Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire (University of Derby) and Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (University of Reading). Solo surveys are under way in Cumbria and Lancashire and in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Ways YOU can participate

Besides all the researchers and other academic staff members working on the NRP (below), we have been ably assisted by a range of volunteers including students, retired people with time to spare, staff in local government and libraries and other interested members of the public. The NRP needs you to help! If you know about local sculpture, have information on artists, or are a practising sculptor / artist yourself, then please take a moment to contact us. If you would like to take part in a more structured manner, such as in a work placement or voluntary capacity, then we would also like to hear from you.

Please e-mail us at pmsa@pmsa.org.uk


Institutions that are currently collaborating, or have collaborated, on the National Recording Project

Courtauld Institute of Art, London
Edinburgh College of Art
Glasgow School of Art
Hampshire Sculpture Trust (supported by Hampshire County Council)
John Moore's University, Liverpool
Kingston University
Manchester Metropolitan University
Nottingham Trent University
Polygon Design, Bristol
Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield
University of Brighton
University of Central England, Birmingham
University of East Anglia
University of East London
University of Hull
University of Leeds
University of Leicester
University of Liverpool
University of Northumbria at Newcastle upon Tyne
University of Reading
National Museums and Galleries of Wales, Cardiff
University of Wales (Aberystwyth)
University of the West of England, Bristol

The NRP is probably unique in academic circles for the number of British institutions involved.

NRP advisers or consultants include:

National Monument Record (now English Heritage)
National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside
UK National Inventory of War Memorials
War Memorials Trust

For further information, please e-mail: pmsa@pmsa.org.uk

Links to these institutions are given in the LINKS section.

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