"Aren't we worthy?" part of Women and Power

How did the project begin?

A visitor posed a question about female roles within the Temple of British Worthies and asked "Are we not worthy?", which sparked debate amongst our team. In the year of Vote100, we've taken the opportunity to create a twenty-first century point of view on the Worthies.

Originally designed in 1735, it has 16 busts of notable characters that Lord Cobham believed deserved commemoration. When you look along the line of famous faces you'll spot one thing, 15 are male and one is a female, Elizabeth I. 

We've created an installation in the garden, shaped by our visitors to Stowe, supporters online, colleagues and contemporaries alongside our local community to result in 16 new representations of British Worthies, 15 female and one male. 

The nominations and going to the polls

Throughout March, you made nominations for a later vote to see who could be represented as a British Worthy via a ballot box at the New Inn Visitor Centre, polls on Twitter and Facebook, alongside email submissions. Voting polls were open in May and June. Casting took place at New Inn, on Facebook, Twitter and in the local towns of Banbury, Northampton and Milton Keynes.

And the results are in

Now we've got a new set of British Worthies we're pleased to give you a little hint at some of the winners. Amongst the group of 16 winners, you'll find famous author and conservationist Beatrix Potter, war time hero Edith Cavell, local charity volunteer Ivy Cakebread and scientist Marie Stopes. 

The rest, we hope you'll discover on a visit to the gardens. Each new Worthy has been created by seven local community groups and the team at Stowe and is now on display to the public in the gardens until 9 November. 

Meet the artists

To help guide the way in which each winner is represented, we enlisted the help of two talented local artists, giving encouragement and creative ideas to represent the many achievments of the new Worthies. 

Women of Stowe

Throughout 2018, we'll be weaving stories of the women of Stowe throughout your visit. The gardens were designed to demonstrate male power and influence on politics, but behind the facade lay influences of female vice and virtue, admired members of roaylty and muses. Look amongst the gardens and there are females around every corner, in the temples and trails designed by Lord Cobham to enlighten his visitors.