The Serpolet Sculpture
| Browse information by: Location Makers General Information Classification Object Parts Object Condition History References Photographs |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright for Photograph: Creative Commons |
Location
| Street: | De La Warr Parade |
| Town: | Bexhill on Sea |
| Parish: | Bexhill on Sea |
| Council: | Rother District Council |
| County: | East Sussex |
| Postcode: | TN40 |
| Location on Google Map | |
| Object setting: | Road or Wayside |
| Access is: | Public |
| Location note: | Opposite the Sackville Hotel and Middlesex Road |
| In the AZ book: | East Sussex |
| Page: | 145 |
| Grid reference: | L2 |
| The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks. | |
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Makers
| Name : | Peter Fairhurst |
| Role: | Designer |
| Company/Group : | Anvil Tubesmiths, Sedlescombe |
| Role: | Metal worker |
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General Information
| Commissioned by: | Rother District Council |
| Unveiling date: | 26/10/2002 |
| Work is: | Extant |
| Owner custodian: | Rother District Council |
| Object listing: | Not listed |
| Description: | A tubular steel structure representing skeletally the 'Easter Egg' car designed and made by Leon Serpolet. The sculpture has elliptical wheels. Embedded by steel poles into a tarmac base set on a grassed area. |
| Inscription: | 1902 - BEXHILL on SEA - 2002 THE BIRTHPLACE OF BRITISH MOTOR RACING THIS IMPRESSION OF M. SERPOLET'S 'EASTER EGG' RECORD BREAKING CAR WAS UNVEILED, AS PART OF BEXHILL'S CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS BY COUNCILLOR PETER FAIRHURST TOWN MAYOR 26th OCTOBER 2002 |
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Classification
| Categories: | Free Standing, Commemorative |
| Object type1: | Sculpture |
| Subject type1: | Figurative |
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Object Parts
| Part 1: | Whole sculpture |
| Material: | Shot-blasted stainless steel |
| Height (cm): | 160 |
| Width (cm): | 133 |
| Depth (cm): | 294 |
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Object Condition
| Overall condition: | Good |
| Risk assessment: | No known risk |
| Condition 1 of type: | Surface |
| Condition 1: | Corrosion, deterioration |
| Condition 2: | Bird guano |
| More details: | There is some rusting on all surfaces due to general weather wearing |
| Condition 2 of type: | Vandalism |
| Condition 1: | Surface damage |
| More details: | A couple of what appear to be knife marks on the underside of the chasis. |
| Date of on-site inspection: | 28/09/2007 |
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History
| History: | 'Breezy Bexhill turned an unveiling ceremony into something rather different on Saturday morning.
Town Mayor Cllr Peter Fairhurst's skeletal sculpture on De La Warr Parade depicting the car which won Britain's first international motorsport meeting on the spot should have been under wraps as the public gathered. But despite bright sunshine, a strong souwester made it impossible to keep any form of sheeting over the shot-blasted stainless steel impression of the artist-mayor's design. But tribute was paid to M. Leon Serpollet and the ''Easter Egg'' - the steam car of his own manufacture on which the French competitor won the Bexhill Motor Trials of 1902. Led by Old Town Preservation Society chairman Michael Kent on his 1899 Peugeot, a convoy of cars of the era motored the 1902 race route from Galley Hill to the Sackville. The Town Mayor rode aboard Bexhill's reproduction Serpollet, arriving before the knot of bystanders and guests huddling from the wind in a swirl of steam and with Bexhill Regeneration Partnership chairman Malcolm Mitcheson at the wheel giving a joyous hoot on the Serpollet's train-like whistle. Youngsters of the Blue Stars marching band struck up a fresh number in honour of an occasion seen as marking the start of the landscaping and improvement of the seafront as part of town regeneration. Appropriately, the sculpture is entirely a ''Made in Rother'' effort. The tubular sculpture is intended to give an ''impression'' of the Serpollet, complete with elliptical wheels wheels depicting the distortion characteristic of early photographs of speeding cars. The Mayor explained: ''I did a drawing then made a model. I gave the drawing and the model to Anvil Tubesmiths of Sedlescombe and they produced this. I think they have done a terrific job.'' The Serpollet, first of a planned series of sculptures to adorn the parades, has cost just £2,500. In a speech, the Town Mayor thanked the regeneration partnership's town centre and tourism action group for backing the project. With a whoosh, a rocket soared into the air and 40 helium-filled balloons executed a horizontal getaway from under the Serpollet over the heads of the crowd and out across a storm-tossed Channel. Guests at the ceremony included town MP Gregory Barker, Rother chairman Cllr Ron Parren and his wife and the leader of Rother, Cllr Graham Gubby. ' (Bexhill Observer) |
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References
| Source 1 : | |
| Title: | Bexhill Observer |
| Type: | Newspaper |
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Photographs
Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
 Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
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