Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy lived in Congleton and was one of the most important national figures in the Women’s Rights Movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Elizabeth led the campaigns for girls’ education, for women to have rights within marriage, including owning property and having custody of their children, and women’s right to vote. Emmeline Pankhurst called Elizabeth ‘the brains behind the women’s suffrage movement’.
Tom Withers Architecture was approached to help gain planning permission for this beautiful statue of Elizabeth in the centre of Congleton. The application was met with an amazing amount of support from local residents and was granted in January of 2022.
The statue has since been installed and is a fantastic addition to the forever changing and bustling high street. The informative board that is close by to the statue gives passers a wonderful glimpse into who Elizabeth was and what she did for women all over the country.
