Dame Agatha Christie Statue Unveiled in Her Home Town

A life-sized bronze statue of Dame Agatha Christie has been unveiled in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, where she lived for more than four decades.

It was created by sculptor Ben Twiston-Davies - whose earlier 2012 statue of Christie called 'The Book' is sited near Covent Garden in London - and shows the crime novelist sitting on a bench and holding a book as she gathers inspiration. Located in open grassland near her home where she wrote many of her books, it was unveiled by her grandson Mathew Prichard.

Christie kept a very low profile in the town and was buried in the local churchyard of St. Mary's where she was a regular member of the congregation.

Wallingford Town Council commissioned the statue to commemorate her life and work, and the town's museum is home to a permanent exhibition dedicated to her. Councillor Steve Beatty, who lead the project for the council, said: “It is fitting that Wallingford has a permanent tribute to Agatha Christie and we hope that the town comes together for a weekend of celebrations”.

The statue becomes one of only around three per cent in the UK that are of non-royal women including a recent one of Virginia Woolf - around 90 per cent of statues in London are of men. A statue of the playwright Aphra Behn to be erected in Canterbury is still in the works.