Leighton Hall statue unveiled

9:15am Tuesday 16th September 2008

AN award winning sculptor has unveiled his newest piece, which is to be housed at historic Leighton Hall.

The Millennium Angel was unveiled at The Old Orchard at Leighton Hall near Carnforth two weeks ago (Sept 4) and will be on display there for the next five years.

Artist Anthony Padgett, who is originally from Morecambe, carved the piece to represent the Angelic Seraphim who, in biblical history, guarded the Ark of the Covenant.

“I wanted to bring my work back to my local area so I’m delighted that Leighton Hall have agreed to give my Angel a home,” he said.

At two metres tall, the sculpture is hand carved from limestone and marble and took Anthony over three years to complete the original design, which was then carved into a 30 centimetre limestone piece, scanned by laser, scaled up and finally cast in bronze.

Lucy Arthurs, of Leighton Hall has welcomed the piece with enthusiasm.

“The Millennium Angel stands at the edge of the Woodland Walk and has already been a big hit with visitors to the Hall,” she said. “We’ve never had anything like this here before so it’s taking a while for us to get used to it. Every morning I open my curtains and a huge angel is staring at me from the orchard.”