Missing goddess statue replaced five decades later

A statue of a goddess that went missing from a visitor garden in the 1970s has finally been replaced.

The Diana of Gabii replica was created in the early 19th Century for the listed Swiss Garden at Shuttleworth, Bedfordshire.

It is believed to have been made by the Austin & Seeley company for Lord Ongley, the creator of the nine-acre Regency garden in the 1820s.

The Shuttleworth Trust said it was not clear why the statue (also known as Diana of Gabes) was lost but it was possible it was either damaged and removed or stolen in the 1970s when the garden at Old Warden was largely neglected.

The Friends of the Swiss Gardens was set up in 1992 to support and raise funds for the site.

The charity decided to reinstate the statue following the garden's 200th anniversary in 2024.

The replacement life-sized statue, recreated by The Ancient Home, is made of white marble and architectural resin and is a reproduction of the original Roman marble copy of a Greek statue dating from the 4th Century BC.

Tony Young, head gardener at the Shuttleworth Collection and Garden, said: "Having seen a photo of the original, it's fantastic to see another iconic element of the garden returned to its rightful place.

"We hope visitors will come and enjoy the statue and all the other wonderful features our space has to offer."

The Shuttleworth Trust said the Swiss Garden, which includes 13 listed features, is one of the best kept examples of a Regency garden in the UK.

Visitors can see the new statue on a dedicated plinth on Diana Island.

The Roman original stands in the Louvre museum in Paris.

It is believed to be a copy of an original Greek marble attributed to Praxiteles that stood on the Acropolis in Athens.

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.