For centuries, London’s cityscape has been shaped by statues of male soldiers, statesmen and monarchs. But that’s changing. As recently as 2021, fewer than one in six of the capital’s public statues commemorated named women. Since then, however, more statues honouring women have been unveiled than in the entire second half of the 20th century. In 2023, the balance tipped for the first time, as more women than men were commemorated in new statues.
The range of honourees is inspiringly broad. From Amy Winehouse, to World War II spy Noor Inayat Khan; from 1960s fashion icon Twiggy, to the UK’s first female surgeon. Even Queen Elizabeth II only received her first London statue in 2023. Joy Battick, the first woman of colour to have a statue in the capital, now has two—making her just the second non-royal, after Virginia Woolf, to be honoured in this way.
