Fine Lady

Funded by the local community of Banbury, this sculpture commemorates the well-known children’s nursery rhyme:

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross,
To see a Fine Lady upon a White Horse,
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes.

The lady in the rhyme has been identified as various well-to-do ladies, including Celia Fiennes (1662-1741), who wrote a journal about her travels around England and Lady Godiva, but in all likelihood the ‘fine lady’ is apochrypal. Here she is depicted as Queen of the May riding through the town. An annual May ride was traditional in many communities in the Middle Ages.

The work contains several references to Spring. The Fine Lady wears a crown of thirteen alternating daffodils and wild roses, which symbolise the ancient number of months in a year. She has musical bells on her feet and also seven bluebells, which represent the days of the week. Her left arm is raised as she scatters petals. The lady is riding a Welsh cob which was sculpted by Denise Dutton.

The project was conceived to celebrate HRH Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, but it took a further three years for sufficient funds to be raised to erect the sculpture.

Location: South Bar Street, Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX16 0AH.