Dog checking the clay sculpture The Vision of Eof

I got a bit concerned as the claywork of the sculpture was finished and I thought my dog might take a bite out of the clay snout - he did things like that when he was younger! [A4A Art for Architecture, High McGowanston Studio, Ayrshire, Scotland] This clay sculpture was created of The vision of Eof by sculptor John McKenna ARBS, before moulding at the A4A studio foundry, in Ayrshire. From the mould a full size wax version was made for investing, ready to cast in bronze. The bronze statue was unveiled in 2008 on site on the edge of the town market square in Evesham. The sculptor had won a public art competition held by the Cotswold and Vale Magazine of Evesham around the 2000 millennium, to select by public vote a sculpture using the theme of the legend of Eof. The legend of the founding of Evesham is that while searching for his pigs on the banks of the River Avon, Eof, a swineherd, received a vision of the Virgin Mary. Eof related this vision to Ecgwine (Saint Egwin), Bishop of Worcester. Ecgwine founded the great Evesham Abbey in about 701 AD on the site of the vision. The town's early name 'Eofeshamme' reflects this legend.