The Sockman

The Sockman (commissioned as The Sock) is a bronze statue in Loughborough town centre.

The Sockman
The Sock
The Sockman in Loughborough Market Place.
ArtistShona Kinloch
Year1998 (1998)
MediumBronze sculpture
Dimensions185 cm × 130 cm × 60 cm (6 ft × 4 ft × 2 ft)[1]
LocationLoughborough, United Kingdom
Coordinates52.771069°N 1.206769°W / 52.771069; -1.206769

The sculpture depicts a man seated on a bollard, naked except for the eponymous sock on his left foot.[2] The sock is symbolic of Loughborough's hosiery industry, and the plinth is engraved with images of the town's history.

The piece has become iconic, and is used as a symbol for Loughborough.[3]

History

In 1997, Charnwood Borough Council decided to have a sculpture to provide "an attractive feature and focus of public interest" in the newly-pedestrianised Loughborough Market Place.[4] They chose a central site just in front of Loughborough Town Hall.

A competition was held in which five artists were selected to design a statue. A panel of local experts and laypeople were gathered to make the decision; the winning design was by Scottish sculptor, Shona Kinloch. Her piece was favoured for artistic quality, technical merit, and durability (being both weather and vandal resistant).

My idea for the Loughborough Market Place is a man, rather on the stocky side, who sits admiring his zigzag sock. The design on the sock is inspired by the fact of the woollen industry, hosiery and knitwear being the speciality, contributing greatly to Loughborough's prosperity.

He will sit on a bollard, which has been incised with images, in low reflect, from Loughborough's history.

— Shona Kinloch

The council commissioned The Sock in April 1998 at a cost of £23,000.[5]

gollark: There are no* safety issues.
gollark: Yes, the omnipotence paradox and stuff.
gollark: I already said that MULTIPLE decaseconds ago.
gollark: That seems like a stretch of the definition.
gollark: But also probably do not cure all things ever trivially.

References
  1. "Shona Kinloch MRSS". Royal Society of Sculptors. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  2. "David Cameron: UK's Next Leader?". Time. 11 September 2008. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018. ..."Sock Man," a bronze figure naked except for one sock and a strategically positioned leaf
  3. "Sockman to become the 'face of Loughborough'". Loughborough Echo. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2018. We decided to use the Sockman because a lot of people associate Loughborough with it straight away.
  4. "The Sock Statue (Loughborough)". Colin Crosby Heritage Tours. Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  5. "The Sock Selection Process". Charnwood Borough Council. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
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