Virginia Woolf could one day be a feature of Richmond’s beautiful riverside when a statue is built in honour of one of England’s most famous women writers.

The first ever full-size statue of Virginia Woolf is planned to feature a bench, so people can sit next to her and take their picture with the modernist writer, frequently labelled a ‘genius’.

Woolf moved to Richmond for her health and was said to have referred to this stretch of the Thames as “her river”.

Henrietta Garnett, Virginia’s great niece and an author, is very supportive of the project and has viewed the clay mock-up by acclaimed sculptor Laury Dizengremel.

She said: “The statue bears a remarkable resemblance to my great-aunt, the writer Virginia Woolf, and it is a wonderful idea to put it in Richmond where she spent 10 years of her life.”

Virginia Woolf lived in Hogarth House in Paradise Road, where she co-founded founded the Hogarth Press alongside her husband Leonard nearly 100 years ago, publishing modern thinkers and writers as diverse as T.S. Eliot and Sigmund Freud.

The bronze artwork is hoped to be unveiled next year for the centenary of The Hogarth Press, but just half the £50,000 required has been donated so far.

Cheryl Robson, who is spearheading the campaign, said: “There’s a myth that Virginia didn’t like Richmond, but it was actually very relaxing for her to be away from the parties in Bloomsbury.

“We are offering to go around schools and women’s institutes and offer a talk by the sculptor; we also have a professor who is an expert on Virginia Woolf.”

A new book called ‘Virginia Woolf in Richmond’ by author Peter Fullagar is also hoped this challenge this preconception.

Richmond Council have run a public consultation already, and 80 per cent of people were said to support the idea.

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