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 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 Results
We received 139 valid nominations across onsite forms and social media giving us a total of 65 different nominations that we shortlisted to 40 in 8 categories for voting before being voted on at the visitor centre at Stowe, on social media channels and in local towns of Banbury, Northampton and Milton Keynes.
We received over 20,000 votes in total.
The 16 new worthies were:
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Beatrix Potter - Famous author and conservationist
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Edith Cavell - War time hero
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Julia Donaldson - Writer, playwright and performer
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Queen Elizabeth II
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Ivy Cakebread - Local charity volunteer
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Marie Stopes - Scientist
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Philippa Atkinson - Local charity volunteer for Bucks Vision
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Reverend Gussie - from the local community
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Ada Lovelace - Mathematician
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Kirstin McIntosh - Charity founder
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Anne O'Brien - A member of the local Milton Keynes Embroiderers' Guild
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Patricia Poole - an ambassador for MK Snap
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J.K. Rowling - Philanthropist and author
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Mary Singh - local professional supporting lives affected by domestic abuse with the charity Eve
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Queen Victoria
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Sir David Attenborough - Broadcaster and naturalist
Each new worthy was represented at Stowe by artworks created by seven community organisations and a Stowe Volunteer Creative Team, with the support of two artists. These were on display in the gardens for nine weeks between 10 Sep - 9 Nov 2018.