20th anniversary of Fine Lady statue to be marked
30/04/2025
Morris dancers from Adderbury will be performing to mark two decades since the statue was unveiled
Its twenty years since the statue of a Fine Lady on a White Horse was unveiled on South Bar, opposite Banbury Cross.
The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, visited Banbury on April 27, 2005 to perform the official unveiling ceremony for the artwork, which commemorates the nursery rhyme “Ride a Cock Horse”. Those lines of verse have made Banbury famous throughout the English speaking world.
This evening a celebration of the 20th anniversary is planned with Adderbury Village Morris Men dancing at the statue from 7pm.
It was designed by Artcycle Ltd, cast in bronze and mounted on a plinth of local Hornton stone. The Fine Lady is depicted as the “Queen of the May” and incorporates many symbols of spring, including flowers. Her crown has thirteen of these to match the ancient number of months in the year. Hidden amongst the flowers two butterflies and a moth can also be seen.
The bells on her feet are interpreted as both musical bells and by seven bluebells, representing the days of the week.
Often people miss the frog on the plinth, which represents metamorphosis, the cycle of nature and community.
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
