February 2025
I and some of my fellow guides were in Canterbury on the 25th February 2025 to witness Her Majesty the Queen unveiling a new statue of the 17th Century writer Aphra Behn. She is widely regarded as the first English female writer to earn her living from writing. She is also said to have been employed by King Charles II as a spy.
Aphra Behn was born in 1640 at Harbledown which is on the outskirts of Canterbury. She became a pioneering playwright and poet, leading the way for women writers of the future. She was the most successful playwright of her era, and could be considered one of the most inspirational women in Canterbury’s history, having risen from humble beginnings to be buried in Westminster Abbey.
The bronze statue was designed by sculptor Christine Charlesworth and chosen by public vote from a shortlist. It was funded by the Canterbury Commemoration Society, who have donated it to the city. It stands outside The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge in the High Street – the city’s Museum and Library. The design features a 17-year-old Aphra, holding a copy of one of her books, “Oroonoko”, which later became an important text for supporters of the abolition of slavery. She is hiding a theatrical mask behind her back, and has a quill and ink bottle around her waist. The statue includes a quote by the 20th Century writer, Virginia Woolf, who was inspired by Aphra, which says, “All women together ought to let flowers fall on the tomb of Aphra Behn”.
Interestingly the sculptor Christine Charlesworth has specifically chosen not to place Aphra Behn on a plinth. She is quoted as saying:- “I didn’t want her on a pedestal. I wanted people to look in her eyes and want to know her and want to stand and have a conversation with her”
The Queen unveiled the statue, and then visited The Beaney for a tour of the Museum and Library, followed by readings of prize-winning poetry by local schoolchildren, and one of Aphra’s poems by Gyles Brandreth, President of the Aphra Behn Society of Canterbury. Before departing the city centre, the Queen took some time to meet and greet some of the crowds who had waited in the rain to see her.