High Street West, Market Woman

1966 by Hans Schwarz. A green-black bronze female figure, 2.6m high, holding a backet containing chickens on her head. The statue stands in a flower bed to one side of the Forum shopping centre. Commissioned by J. Seymour Harris and Partners, developers of the shopping centre. Originally sited on a low brick base it was moved to its current location in 1993. The figure is a female Roman-era peasant, the site lying close to the east end of Hadrian's Wall. The statue was deliberately rough, hand-finished and has a patchy nature to the colour, to give an impression of age. The stoicism of her pose contrasts with the flapping hens in the basket. Reasons for being listed: aesthetic quality, material, historic interest (Schwarz draws attention to the subjugation of the local population by Emperor Hadrian) and contribution to the public realm. LISTED GRADE 2