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Statue of Romulus and Remus, Beechbarrow

This article is about the statue of Romulus and Remus near the cathedral city of Wells in Somerset. For other uses, see Romulus (disambiguation) and Remus (disambiguation).

The Statue of Romulus and Remus is a Grade II listed folly located at Beechbarrow on Pen Hill, by the A39 road to Wells, Somerset, England. It was designed and sculpted by a former Italian prisoner of war (POW) and is made from concrete and plaster over an iron armature. It depicts the legend of Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Mars, suckling the she‑wolf, and is supported on a plinth by four pillars.

Statue of Romulus and Remus, Beechbarrow
The figures of Romulus and Remus are shown suckling the she‑wolf. The figures are set on a rectangular plinth that is carried on four square columns. The whole stands on a pedestal at the rear edge of a stone boundary wall. Beech trees, without leaf, are shown to the right of the image.
The statue standing behind a low stone wall
Map
ArtistGaétano Claudio Celestra
Year1946 (78 years ago) (1946)
MediumConcrete and plaster over an iron armature
MovementNeoclassical folly[1]: 51 
SubjectRomulus and Remus
DimensionsHeight 4 metres (12 feet)
LocationBeechbarrow, Hillgrove, Pen Hill, Wells St Cuthbert Out, Somerset, England
Coordinates51°14′19″N 2°37′02″W / 51.238521°N 2.617310°W / 51.238521; -2.617310
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameStatue of Romulus and Remus on land at Beechbarrow House
Designated21 February 2008 (16 years ago) (2008-02-21)
Reference no.1392416
SHER[a]24437

History

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See § About the artist for biographic details of Celestra's life

In 1946, Gaétano Claudio Celestra, commonly known as Gaetano Celestra, worked for Philip Robert Wellstood White at the Beechbarrow estate on Pen Hill in Hillgrove, Wells St Cuthbert Out, Somerset.[3][b] Celestra, was a former Italian POW, who had been held at various POW camps in Wells during World War II.[5][6]: 102  In the summer of 1946, Wellstood White asked Celestra to repair a stone wall that ran along the main Bristol to Wells road, now the A39 road, close to the Mendip transmitting station on Pen Hill. A stray bomb, dropped during the Bristol Blitz, had destroyed the wall and created a deep crater in the field behind the wall.[3]

Celestra spent three months repairing half a mile (0.8 kilometres) of wall,[3][7] and subsequently, he asked Wellstood White if he could design and erect a sculpture to express his gratitude to him, and other local people, who had helped him during the war.[5][3] He worked in his spare time, in one of the Beechbarrow outhouses, to create a sculpture of Romulus and Remus and the she‑wolf. He erected the statue, supported on a plinth by four pillars, directly in front of the bomb crater.[7]

By 1978, the statue had started to show signs of age; the concrete tail had crumbled, revealing part of the armature, and one of the figures had lost an arm.[7][c] In 2002, Ian Rands, vice‑chairman of the Glastonbury Conservation Society, observed that the statue was in need of urgent repair. He contacted D'Ovidio Brothers, a local building company, to quote for the work, but the society was not able to provide the necessary funds. Despite the issue with funding, D'Ovidio Brothers decided to carry out the restoration and look at other ways to raise the money.[8]

In 2002, the Festa Italiana Romulus and Remus, also known as the Wells Italian Festival, was held for the first time at Beechbarrow. Around £3,000 was raised, enough to cover the costs of restoring the statue and to donate to other charities.[8] In June 2003, following the restoration of the statue, a brass commemorative plaque was installed on the base by the local Italian community.[9] The festival was held at Beechbarrow until 2017, when it moved to its new site at Palace Farm, Wells, near the Bishop's Palace.[8]

In 2007, Ian Gething, conservation officer for Mendip District Council, applied to English Heritage for special protection for the statue.[10][8] It was argued, amongst other reasons put forward to protect the statue, that it celebrated the bond between POWs and the local community, and that it demonstrated that concrete can be an imaginative and attractive medium. On 21 February 2008, the statue was Grade II listed by English Heritage.[11]

The statue was given prominence in an exhibition at the Wells and Mendip Museum, entitled The Italians of Wells, that ran to 31 August 2024.[12] It featured in the television documentary series Cobblestones, Cottages and Castles, that was produced by Young Productions, and first broadcast on Television South West in October 1990.[13] The statue was also included in the television programme The Sculpture 100, that surveyed the hundred most significant public sculptures in Britain created in the last hundred years.[14] The programme was first broadcast on 4 December 2005 by Artsworld, now Sky Arts, and is available on DVD.[15]

Design

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Design elements[11]
1She‑wolf fashioned from concrete and plaster
over an iron armature
2Romulus and Remus suckling from the she‑wolf
3Name of artist (Gaetano Celestra)
4Rectangular plinth
5Decorative panels of vermiculation
6Square columns
7Raised semi‑circular motifs

Celestra's design was influenced by an image of the Capitoline Wolf on the reverse of a 50 lira note. Ultimately, this design was derived from an Etruscan bronze sculpture of the Capitoline Wolf, that depicts a scene from the legend of the founding of Rome, and dates to around the 5th century BC.[5]

The inscription on the brass commemorative plaque reads:[16]

During the Second World War there were Italian prisoners of war in camp close to this site. Towards the end of the war many of these men were allowed to work on local farms. Some were selected to live in at the farms and many became part of the family.

One of the prisoners, an artist named Gaetano Celestra with the help of his colleagues designed and sculpted this statue of Romulus, Remus and the wolf in appreciation of the kindness shown to them during their forced stay in this country.

According to legend Romulus and Remus were the twin sons of Mars, the God of War, and Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia. Amulius, the king, had the babes placed in a trough and cast into the River Tiber. They drifted ashore and were rescued by a female wolf who suckled, fed and protected them until Faustulus, a shepherd, and his wife found them and raised them into adulthood. Romulus and Remus both had plans to build a city but had such a violent disagreement about who should be king that Romulus killed Remus. Romulus built the city which he ruled as king for forty years.

That city is Rome — founded in 753 BC.

About the artist

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The brass commemorative plaque that was installed on the base of the statue in 2003

Celestra was born on 5 June 1908 in Tunis, Tunisia, to Vito Celestra and Angela, née Termini.[17][18][d] He was baptised at Notre‑Dame‑du‑Rosaire (the Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary) in Tunis.[18] His father, of Italian Tunisian descent,[18] worked as a mechanic in the Tunis suburb of Radès.[19]: 267  In 1932, Celestra married Maria D'Affronto at the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, and they went on to have three daughters.[20][3] Before World War II, he worked in Tunis as a stonemason and builder,[4]: 13 [21] and following Italy's entry into the war in June 1940,[22]: 174  he enlisted in the Italian Army.[21] However, after the British capture of Tobruk in January 1941, he was taken a POW.[21]

In early 1941, the transfer of Italian POWs to the United Kingdom was being considered by the government as a way to ease a shortage of labour in farming.[22]: 175 [5] In July 1941, the first contingents of POWs arrived in the United Kingdom, to be held in purpose-built camps.[22]: 175  It is thought that Celestra was brought over in 1943,[21] and held initially at Penleigh Camp near Wookey Hole, Somerset.[5] He was one of a thousand Italian prisoners interned at the camp,[6]: 102  before he was transferred to Stoberry Park camp in Wells, Somerset. Following Italy's defeat in September 1943, many of the POWs were given a degree of freedom to work on farms and visit pubs and other events in the area.[5] After the Normandy landings in June 1944, Stoberry Park became a camp for German POWs.[10]

By 1946, Celestra was living with the Wellstood White family at the Beechbarrow estate on Pen Hill in Hillgrove, Wells St Cuthbert Out.[3] Philip Robert Wellstood White had been a livestock officer for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), until he resigned his position in 1945. In the following year, Wellstood White started a business from Beechbarrow called Universal Supplies Association,[23] that traded a variety of goods to retail and wholesale customers.[24] In 1951, Wellstood White closed the business, and in January 1952, the family emigrated to Paarl, near Cape Town, South Africa.[23]

 
Celestra lived and worked at Lüderitz until his death in 1987

Celestra decided to remain in the United Kingdom after he discovered that Maria had left him for another man.[21] By March 1952, he was working for the Waldegrave estate at Chewton Mendip, Somerset.[5] In the same month, he applied to become a naturalised British citizen,[25] after he had stated that his one ambition was "to become a naturalised Englishman."[3] He worked on contract at a number of other farms,[26]: 7  notably for the Cristofoli family at Lower Farm in Batcombe, Somerset, where he built two snake decorated fish ponds.[21] Other examples of his work still survive, including the bus shelter opposite the George Inn in Croscombe, Somerset,[27] and another fish pond at Beechbarrow.[7][e]

By 1954, Celestra was working for Giuseppe "Joe" Ambrosini, a builder based in Ash Grove, Wells, who himself was a former POW.[21][7] Celestra has been described as a "quiet loner" and a "short curly‑haired Italian",[21][7] but one day he asked Ambrosini if he could have the afternoon off to get married. Unfortunately, his bride changed her mind at the register office and decided not to go ahead with the wedding.[7][f] He worked next for Onorino Crestani, another Italian ex‑POW and builder, before a short spell of maintenance work at St Cuthberts Mill in Haybridge, Wells.[7]

In early 1955, Celestra decided to follow the Wellstood Whites to South Africa.[29] Wellstood White found him a job on a farm but he left after a few years to work as a builder and fisherman in the coastal town of Lüderitz in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia.[29] He built another Capitoline Wolf sculpture at his home in Lüderitz. A photograph appears in the 19 September 1987 edition of Le Figaro Magazine, that shows him, and his gardener, repainting the sculpture.[30]: 105 [g] He died on 16 September 1987(1987-09-16) (aged 79) at Lüderitz, three days before the photograph was published.[17] Maria was appointed executor for his estate.[28]

See also

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Footnotes

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The bus shelter at Croscombe
  1. ^ Somerset Historic Environment Record.[2]
  2. ^ Beechbarrow is sometimes spelled Beech Barrow.[4]: 13 
  3. ^ In its time, the hollow statue has provided protection for nesting birds and several swarms of honey bees.[7]
  4. ^ Celestra's mother's birth name was sometimes spelled Termine.[18]
  5. ^ The bus shelter in Croscombe was financed by public subscription, and in May 1951, the first foundation was laid.[27] At the time, local councils were encouraged to erect bus shelters as a way of celebrating the Festival of Britain that was held in summer of that year. The bus shelter scheme was popular with councils, as it was inexpensive and would not deplete building supplies that would stay on ration until 1954.[31]: 589 
  6. ^ Celestra remained married to Maria, until his death in 1987.[28]
  7. ^ The sculpture is located at 26°39′05″S 15°09′21″E / 26.651308°S 15.155964°E / -26.651308; 15.155964 (Sculpture of Romulus and Remus at ERF 173, Bay Road, Lüderitz), on Bay Road, the B4 road in Lüderitz, across from Stauch Road. See the photograph of the Capitoline Wolf sculpture that Celestra built at his home in Lüderitz in the external links section.

References

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  1. ^ Headley, Gwyn; Meulenkamp, Wim (1986). "The West Country: Somerset". Follies: A National Trust Guide. London: Jonathan Cape. pp. 49–60. ISBN 978-0-224-02105-0. OCLC 1169853252. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Historic Environment Record". swheritage.org.uk. Taunton: South West Heritage Trust. 2024. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "POW's Handiwork on the Mendip". Central Somerset Gazette. Vol. 86, no. 2. Wells. 10 January 1947. p. 1. ISSN 2399-1240. OCLC 1064596825. Retrieved 15 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ a b Skinner, Julia (2012). "Somerset Miscellany". Somerset: A Miscellany. Did You Know?. Sheffield: Bradwell Books. pp. 6–45. ISBN 978-1-84589-685-0. OCLC 879380733. Retrieved 19 August 2024. First published by The Francis Frith Collection.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Adkins, Roy; Adkins, Lesley (December 2010). "Monument Of The Month: Latter‑day Romans in Somerset". www.adkinshistory.com. Exeter: Roy and Lesley Adkins. Newsletter 21. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024. From Patterns of the Past.
  6. ^ a b Darke, Johanna (1991). "Southern Counties". The Monument Guide to England and Wales: A National Portrait in Bronze and Stone. London: Macdonald & Co. pp. 75–108. ISBN 978-0-356-17609-3. OCLC 501463791. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sofrin, Ingrid (31 August 1978). "How Celestra gave a piece of Rome to the Mendips". Wells Journal. Vol. 128, no. 35. p. 10. OCLC 1065219374. Retrieved 20 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ a b c d Bollini, Julie; D'Ovidio, Tony (9 July 2024). "Romulus and Remus". The Italians of Wells Exhibition (Commemorative booklet). Wells and Mendip Museum. pp. 8–11.
  9. ^ Irving, Maxine (5 June 2003). "Statue restoration marked by Plaque". Wells Journal. p. 1. OCLC 1065219374.
  10. ^ a b Nagel, Jim, ed. (June 2008). Prisoner‑of‑war exchange, 65 years on (Newsletter). Glastonbury Conservation Society. p. 4. OCLC 852146002. Archived from the original on 24 August 2024. Retrieved 24 August 2024. Double issue.
  11. ^ a b "Statue of Romulus and Remus on land at Beechbarrow House". historicengland.org.uk. Swindon: Historic England. 21 February 2008. 1392416. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  12. ^ "What's On. The Italians of Wells Exhibition". www.wellsmuseum.org.uk. Wells: Wells Museum. 9 July 2024. Archived from the original on 24 August 2024. Retrieved 24 August 2024. The exhibition ran from 9 July 2024 to 31 Aug 2024.
  13. ^ Rowe, Tina (18 August 1990). "What a plonker! Dog sees off star". Bristol Evening Post. No. 17699. p. 6. ISSN 2052-9473. OCLC 31282566. Retrieved 15 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ Perry, Perry (30 November 2005). "How do you make a great piece of public sculpture?". Times2. No. 68558. p. 20. ISSN 0140-0460. Gale IF0502793550.
  15. ^ Jones, Emily; Flynn, Sam; et al. (2005). The Sculpture 100: England's public sculpture 1905–2005 (DVD). London: Illuminations. The Romulus and Remus statue is numbered 26 in the list and appears at 12 minutes 12 seconds. OCLC 71305950. 506-0-03-383279-0. Archived from the original on 26 August 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2024 – via City and Guilds of London Art School. First broadcast by Artsworld.
  16. ^ "Exterior detail view of the inscription on the plaque on the statue of Romulus, Remus and the wolf, Bristol Road, St Cuthbert Out". historicengland.org.uk. Swindon: Historic England. 18 September 2007. DP044498. Archived from the original on 17 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  17. ^ a b "Notice to creditors in deceased estates. 503/87 Celestra" (PDF). Extraordinary Official Gazette of South West Africa (5513). Windhoek: Civic Affairs and Manpower: 4. 25 March 1988. OCLC 610999578. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  18. ^ a b c d Velin, Nicolas (1908). "Births and Catholic baptisms in Tunisia". en.geneanum.com. Gozo: Généalogie Numérique. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  19. ^ Institut Colonial de Marseille (1931). "Concours D'appareils de Cueillette Mécanique des Olives. Organisé par L'office de L'experimentation et de Vulgarisation Agricoles de la Tunisie. Compte‑rendu du Premier Concours. Janvier 1930" [Competition for Mechanical Olive Picking Devices. Organised by the Office of Agricultural Experimentation and Extension of Tunisia. Report of the First Competition. January 1930]. Bulletin des Matières Grasses [Bulletin of Lipids] (in French). 35 (9). Tunis: Imprimerie Centrale: 261–270. OCLC 1716309. Retrieved 22 August 2024 – via Gallica.
  20. ^ Velin, Nicolas (1932). "Civil and Catholic Marriages in Tunisia". en.geneanum.com. Gozo: Généalogie Numérique. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h Blandiver, Jack (8 October 1992). "Jack Blandiver's Diary. A puzzle in concrete". Wells Journal. p. 25. OCLC 1065219374. Retrieved 15 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. ^ a b c Moore, Bob (April 2015). "Enforced Diaspora: The Fate of Italian Prisoners of War during the Second World War" (PDF). War in History. 22 (2). Great Easton: Sage Publishing: 174–190. doi:10.1177/0968344514521789. ISSN 0968-3445. JSTOR 26098529. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Start of an 8,000 mile Journey". Wells Journal. Vol. 102, no. 1. 4 January 1952. p. 1. OCLC 1065219374. Retrieved 15 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  24. ^ "For Sale". Central Somerset Gazette. Vol. 87, no. 46. Wells. 12 November 1948. p. 4. ISSN 2399-1240. OCLC 1064596825. Retrieved 15 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  25. ^ "Public Notices". Wells Journal. Vol. 102, no. 12. 21 March 1952. p. 4. OCLC 1065219374. Retrieved 15 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  26. ^ Coysh, Arthur Wilfred; Mason, Edward John; Waite, Vincent (1971) [First published in 1954 in the Regional Books series]. "1. On Mendip". The Mendips (3rd ed.). London: Robert Hale. pp. 1–17. ISBN 978-0-7091-2244-9. OCLC 238450.
  27. ^ a b "Croscombe 'Bus Shelter". Central Somerset Gazette. Vol. 90, no. 21. Wells. 25 May 1951. p. 2. ISSN 2399-1240. OCLC 1064596825. Retrieved 26 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  28. ^ a b "Liquidation and distribution accounts in deceased estates lying for inspection. 503/87 Celestra" (PDF). Extraordinary Official Gazette of South West Africa (5702). Windhoek: Civic Affairs and Manpower: 3. 21 April 1989. OCLC 610999578. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  29. ^ a b Blandiver, Jack (26 November 1992). "Jack Blandiver's Diary. Story of a wolf with a heart of gold". Wells Journal. p. 21. OCLC 1065219374. Retrieved 15 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  30. ^ Lacontre, Robert (19 September 1987). "Grand Reportage. La Namibie, ce paradis qui dérange tout le monde" [Grand Report. Namibia, this paradise that disturbs everyone]. Le Figaro Magazine (in French). No. 398 (International ed.). Paris: Société du Figaro. pp. 98–108. ISSN 0184-9336. OCLC 34016775. Qui repeint avec son jardinier la louve romaine (Who repaints the Roman she‑wolf with his gardener).
  31. ^ Grant, Mariel (July 2006). "'Working for the Yankee Dollar': Tourism and the Festival of Britain as Stimuli for Recovery". Journal of British Studies. 45 (3). Nottingham: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the North American Conference on British Studies: 581–601. doi:10.1086/503592. ISSN 1545-6986. JSTOR 10.1086/503592.

Further reading

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