'Two Pigs' Statue stolen from Phelps Parade, Calne

The Two Pigs sculpture. Photo Credit: Rodhullandemu.

I was saddened when my wife returned home from shopping and told me that the much loved 'Two Pigs' statue had been stolen from Phelps Parade sometime the previous evening.

Wiltshire Police report that the statue was taken sometime between the evening of Sunday 1 October and the early hours of Monday 2 October.[1]

Calne Town Council CCTV [2], run by volunteers and when unmanned runs on a pre-set patrol, have given the police the CCTV coverage of the area and the police have been reviewing the footage. Two CCTV cameras recorded the theft, which only took 2 minutes and 45 seconds, suggesting (to me, at least) a level of premeditation to this theft. The statue was wrenched off and carried to a vehicle, Tony Trotman, the current Mayor of Calne commented [3]. The mayor also write in a Facebook comment that the statue was "cast in hollow form and the bronze is not to be thought as an expensive material in scrap terms". The police are asking anyone with information to call 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.[4,5]

In an attempt to reduce the likelyhood of other pieces of Calne public art being stolen, a jointly funded Wiltshire Police CCTV van will be deployed into the town centre for the foreseeable future.
 

The aftermath. Photo Credit: Lucy Havenith

Some History

The bronze statue was placed in Phelps Parade in 1979. It replaced a birch tree which was planted in 1973 upon the completion of Phelps Parade, the same year that the centre of Calne became a conservation area. The tree didn't last long [6], but I had just assumed that this statue would be here for a time long enough to be considered 'forever'.

The statue was commission by the Calne Civic Society (sadly no longer with us) as Calne's first piece of public art. It was made by a prolific local sculptor, Richard Cowdy, who also created the sheep bronzes outside of Sainsbury's in the town along with having a hand in creating most of the public art in Calne.

 This statue was created as remeberance of the town's history with the Harris bacon business. The business evolved from a family butchers in the late 1800s to  become a major employer in Calne, employing up to 2000 people and processing 5000 pigs at its peak. Recession and competition (from Danish industry) had a massive effect on this business and the loss of major customer, M&S, lead to the factory closing. It was demolished in 1984 to make way for the redevelopment in the town, which lead to the development of Beach Terrace and the library.

What will happen now? 

At the time of publishing this post, the police are progressing enquiries. In the long run, it's doubtful that our town will get back our beloved and unique bronze pig statue. I can only hope that they will be replaced by a replica or something that will bring just as much joy to the residents of the town. Whether this will be done by the Town Council, a benefactor, or by public subscription, who knows?

I'm lucky that my last memory of this statue is my 2 year old son sitting on the statue and pretending to ride the pig as a horse, as I'm sure many had done in the past. But, sad to know that this is the past and won't happen again. 

Perhaps it is time to leave the past behind. Calne has come a long way since the days of Harris and is more resilient since those days. - Who am I kidding: We want our pigs back.

I hope you will enjoy this video about the bronze pigs by Pete Steadman via YouTube:

 
An exciting update to this story can be seen here.
Post updated: 24/04/2018 with additional photographs. 

References and Notes: 


[Photograph] File:CalnePigs.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. 2017. File:CalnePigs.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. [ONLINE] Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CalnePigs.jpg. [Accessed 03 October 2017].
[1] Theft of pig statue from Phelps Parade, Calne. 2017. Theft of pig statue from Phelps Parade, Calne. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wiltshire.police.uk/news/4175-theft-of-pig-statue-from-phelps-parade-calne. [Accessed 03 October 2017]. 
[2] Calne Town Council. 2017. In Facebook Calne Town Council. Retrieved October 3, 2017, from https://www.facebook.com/CalneTC/posts/1479990152088974
[3] Tony Trotman. 2017. In Facebook Calne Town Council. Retrieved October 3, 2017, from https://www.facebook.com/CalneTC/posts/1479990152088974?comment_id=1480097768744879&notif_id=1507041561739254&notif_t=feed_comment
[4] BBC News. 2017. Bronze pig sculpture stolen from Wiltshire pork pie town - BBC News. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-41467016. [Accessed 03 October 2017].
[5] The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. 2017. Tribute to Harris Bacon company been stolen from Calne | The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/15570496.Bronze_pig_statue_stolen/. [Accessed 03 October 2017].

[6] A photograph of the tree in place can be seen in Calne's Heritage by Peter Treloar, page 126. ISBN: 978 0 7524 5144 2. Available to loan from Wiltshire library and to buy online.