I have read the article and letters in conjunction with the proposed Austen statue. 

Martin Jennings is a fine sculptor, witness his Sir John Betjeman statue at St Pancras. 

Betjeman was a railway enthusiast, poet and great traveller and the placement there is appropriate. 

However the proposed Austen statue for the Cathedral Close in Winchester is anodyne to say the least.

None of us know what she looked like so the sculpture is pure speculation. 

The best reasons against the sculpture in the Cathedral Close were provided by Elizabeth Proudman (Chronicle, Letters, December 7).

Elizabeth is one of the foremost Austen scholars in the country and we should listen carefully to what she has to say. 

If a statue of her was to be placed anywhere it should be in Chawton where she did the majority of her writing. The image you produced last week of Robert Truscott, a respected local sculptor of significant reputation, is far superior to the Jennings version. 

It could be placed appropriately, as Elizabeth said, in the College Street house where she died.

John Harding,
Beggars Lane,
Winchester

Send letters by email to newsdesk@hampshirechronicle.co.uk or by post to Editor, Hampshire Chronicle, 5 Upper Brook Street, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 8AL.

All letters and e-mails must include full names and addresses (anonymous letters will not be published), although these details may be withheld from publication, on request.

Letters of 300 words or less will be given priority, although all are subject to editing for reasons of clarity, space, or legal requirements. We reserve the right to edit letters.