It was great to visit Kirkby Stephen in the summer of 2023 to see the statue of Lady Anne Clifford.
The statue by Diane Lawrenson captures a youthful Lady Anne Clifford's determination and march to get things done. It is aptly named Lady Anne's Way. Lady Anne regularly toured between the Clifford family houses and castles in Yorkshire and Cumbria.
Lady Anne's Way is also a 100 mile hiking route between Skipton Castle and Penrith in Cumbria. The walk takes in all the locations where the Cliffords had property including Brougham Castle which the Clifford family owned.
Lady Anne is credited with the restoration of Brougham Castle in the 17th century. It was at Brougham Castle where Lady Anne Clifford died in 1676, aged 86, in the room in which her father had been born and her mother had died.
The statue was cast in Bronze at the Powerhall foundry in Edinburgh and installed outside the visitor centre in Kirkby Stephen in September 2020. It beautifully captures the 'spirit of the indomitable' Lady Anne with flowing clothes. It sits on a Brockram boulder which is the type of building material typically used in Kirkby Stephen and the Vale of Eden.
