Churchill’s legacy is still doing us proud

9:20am Thursday 14th August 2008

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The eyecatching Sir Winston Churchill statue in Woodford Green is one of the area’s defining landmarks. Reporter DANIEL BINNS finds out the story behind the much-loved monument.

IMMORTALISED in bronze, the figure of Britain’s formidable wartime leader still casts a giant shadow over Woodford Green more than 40 years after his death.

His statue, which glares moodily towards South Woodford from the top of Salway Hill, serves as a fitting reminder of his legacy as Prime Minister during the Second World War, and as the area’s most famous MP.

Churchill was in the twilight of his political career when he became MP for Woodford in 1945, his greatest achievements already behind him. A self-confessed workaholic, he continued to represent the constituency right up to October 1964, just months before his death at the age of 90.

Churchill’s election came on the back of a devastating defeat for the Conservative Party during the first post-war general election, but he remained a popular figure in Redbridge, and it was not long before a fund was set-up to raise money to build a permanent monument. Sculptor David McFall finally completed the statue in 1959, and it was immediately adopted by Wanstead and Woodford Council to be held in trust for the people of the area. More than 5,000 people flocked to the green to watch the grand unveiling, with famous Second World War general, Field Marshall Viscount Montgomery, on hand to praise his friend’s work.

He told the assembled crowd: “This famous man to whom this statue is designed is still most happily with us, enjoying in dignity and quiet the evening of his splendid life.

“But that, alas, will not always be so. Future generations will not only need, but will desire to know what he looked like, and it is most fitting that you in Woodford have decided to supply the answer.

“He has received your unfailing loyalty for more than a quarter of a century. Woodford was his political Alamein.”

Churchill, then an ailing 85 year-old, told his adoring audience: “I am most grateful to the people of Wanstead and Woodford for the signal honour you now do me.

“It has been a privilege representing you in Parliament.”

But while the ceremony went without a hitch, it was soon decided to place the statue under 24-hour police guard for the following few weeks, for fear it would be targeted by vandals and practical jokers.

Except for occasional bird droppings and the odd piece of graffiti, the statue has remained relatively unmolested ever since.

While the man himself is gone, his statue will maintain a watchful eye for many years to come.