Public Statues and Sculpture Association | Agatha Christie - Public Statues and Sculpture Association

Photo: Ben Twiston-Davies

Sculptor: Ben Twiston-Davies (b. 1971)

Founder: Castle Fine Arts

Materials: Bench and statue: bronze; base: slate

Dimensions: h. 150 cm., w. 200 cm., d. 100 cm. (approx.)

Signed: Ben Twiston-Davies 2023, on the bottom of the spine of the book she is holding.

Inscription: AGATHA CHRISTIE, 1890-1976 (on slate base)

Unveiled: Saturday 9 September 2023 by Mathew Prichard, the author's grandson

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie, DBE (1890–1976) was the author of short stories and 66 detective novels, featuring her two sleuths Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Also a playwright, she wrote the world’s longest running play The Mousetrap.

Christie moved to Wallingford in 1934 and lived there there for the rest of her life. This statue, titled A Monument to Imagination, was commissioned by Wallingford Town Council and is located in a grassland area, The Kinecroft, opposite Wallingford Museum. An exhibition about Christie ‘At Home with the Queen of Crime’ is on permanent display in the museum.

The sculptor, Ben Twiston-Davies, commented ‘Agatha looks up from the book she has been quietly reading as if she has seen something to inspire a story. The bronze bench ends consist of question marks with ball and claw feet, suggesting mystery and a sense of danger. She holds the book closed, protectively withholding the ending. Living in Wallingford, Agatha appeared a shy and unassuming woman, but she had a brilliant and rich inner life. I hope visitors to the statue will be reminded to pay attention to the power of their own and others’ imagination.’

Location: The Kinecroft, Wallingford, Oxfordshire