Winchester black swan statue being restored (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Winchester black swan statue being restored

4:53pm Friday 10th February 2012 in Winchester By Andrew Napier

IT has been a long-running saga – the mystery of the headless swan.

When will it be repaired was the elementary question asked by civic campaigners in Winchester.

Now the broken statue, immortalised in a Sherlock Holmes short story, is about to be restored.

The bird had graced the wall of a Winchester building for decades until it was damaged around ten years ago.

Campaigners have since battled to have it fixed but the issue became entangled in bureaucratic quibbling.

Today (WED) the swan was due to be removed and taken to First Wessex Property Services in Portsmouth, where a new head and neck will be carved.

The statue originally stood on the Black Swan Hotel, at the junction of High Street and Southgate Street, where Holmes and Dr Watson lunched in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.

The hotel was demolished for road-widening in the mid-1930s and replaced by the current office block.

Hazel Warwick, asset management director at First Wessex, said: “This is an unusual project for us, and we are thrilled to be part of the restoration of this important part of Winchester’s heritage.”

Alison Davidson, head of historic environment at Winchester City Council said: “The swan originates from the Black Swan Hotel which stood on the corner of Southgate Street since the early 19th century. Before that, the building was an inn known as the Old Swan.

“The hotel was replaced in 1935 with Black Swan Buildings and the carved swan is the last remnant of the hotel. In 1945 the swan fell to pieces and members of the public raised £55 needed for local craftsman Edwin Laverty to carve a new swan.”

Campaigner Chris Webb, of Southgate Street, said: “I’m absolutely delighted. All we want now is a plaque with the Sherlock Holmes connection.”