Bench unveiled to honour the fallen

For the past four months, Level 3 Art & Design students from Shrewsbury Colleges Group have been working on a project to commemorate famous WWI poet, Wilfred Owen.

Shropshire Libraries contacted Shrewsbury Colleges Group before the summer holidays to discuss the 100th anniversary of Wilfred Owen’s death and the idea of a student-designed book bench.

Owen studied at Shrewsbury Technical College, which is now SCG’s English Bridge Campus where all Art & Design courses are held. After 21 designs were submitted and a lot of deliberation, the work of Liv Goddard-Cockaday was chosen.

Mirka Duxberry, library development manager, said: “We chose to work with Shrewsbury Colleges Group because it was fitting to have a local artist and it is great to give Shropshire students a chance to expand their skills. We have to admit that we were taken-aback by the quality of the designs that the students presented us with.

"They were all brilliant and professional – which made our decision so difficult. After a long discussion, Liv’s design was decided on as we thought the concept tied in very nicely with Wilfred Owen’s writings and there was something quite magical about it."

The bench was then delivered to Shrewsbury Library and was unveiled on Monday. A letter Owen sent to his mother, The Send-Off and Dulce et Decorum Est were read out before the bench was revealed and it will take pride-of-place outside the doors of the Library, which will be its permanent home.

The bench was made to look like an old, weathered book covered in poppies. On each page was a faceless portrait – one of Wilfred Owen and one of an army medic – with snippets of Owen’s poetry floating around.

Liv, 18, from Craven Arms, said: “I left the men faceless because war took away the humanities of soldiers and the poetry words are faded to represent the memories and minds drifting away. I chose to paint an Army medic alongside Wilfred Owen because my Grandad was a medic in WWII and it meant a lot to me. I worked on the project over summer, but didn’t get to the final design until later on – I wanted it to be perfect.

“It was quite a surprise to find out that my design had been chosen."

Helen Morgan, Art & Design curriculum leader, added: “It was a first for our students to generate their work from words, when they are usually inspired by images and to create a design that will be applied to a 3D object. However, it was a great challenge for them and they really enjoyed it. Liv has worked so hard on this project and even came into College over half-term to get the bench finished.”