Proposed New Shelley Memorial Update

Update on the proposed Shelley memorial commemorating P B Shelley's publication of 'The Necessity of Atheism' in Oxford, United Kingdom:

From the 'New Shelley Memorial Oxford' Facebook Page

"There is some good news, and some bad. The bad news is that Lloyds Bank has definitively turned down our idea for a plaque on their Carfax building saying that this is their policy with all such requests. As English Heritage advises, there is no way that a plaque can be put on a building without the owner’s permission, so that is that. 

However, we are approaching the owners of a nearby building on the High St to see whether they might be amenable. One party to any agreement has sent a very positive reply, so that constitutes a good start. We have a workable text which Stephen Sedley has drafted:

ON THIS SITE STOOD THE BOOKSHOP OF MUNDAY AND SLATTER WHO IN 1811 PUBLISHED A PAMPHLET BY THE POET PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (1792-1822), ENTITLED The Necessity of Atheism. SHELLEY WAS EXPELLED BY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE FOR REFUSING TO REPUDIATE IT

Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth,
Ashes and sparks, my words amongst mankind!
Be through my lips to unawakened earth
The trumpet of a prophecy! O, Wind
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

Ode to the West Wind. 1819

This could be amended to open ‘Near this spot’ or something like that. We also had a positive meeting with two council members who felt it would be in line with other plaques in Oxford, and a major literary society has been supportive. Andrew Copson has ‘liked’ our Facebook page, so efforts continue in line with a saying attributed to Shelley himself: 'I always go on till I am stopped, and I never am stopped'"

Read John Webster's original report about this campaign on the K-SAA Blog here.