Stories behind statues revealed

The history of the statues of Roman emperors and generals at the Roman Baths will be told to mark the end of a restoration project.

Sentinels in Stone focuses on who the statues represent and why they are at the baths.

Emperors Claudius, Constantine, and Hadrian all figure along with Roman general Suetonius Paulinus.

The statue of Julius Caesar is 18 years old as the original was vandalised in the late 1980s and a new one made.

All but one of the statues were carved by the sculptor GA Lawson and erected by the architect John McKean Brydon ready for the grand opening of the Roman Baths to the public in 1897.

The replacement Julius Caesar was sculpted by Laurence Tindall.

King Bladud in the Kings Baths was his first conservation project in 1982, followed by the Victorian statues around the Great Bath, and the commission for the new statue of Julius Caesar.

"My training in stone masonry is invaluable to me," said Mr Tindall.

"It gave me the skills base to work out of and a love of old buildings."

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