| How many visitors to Chesterfield s Queen's Park have noticed the sculpture of a
little girl, tucked away in the shade of a tree overlooking the cricket pitch, and
wondered about the story behind the statue? Probably thousands...so, for those who do not know the tale here is the story of Lalla Lee. FAMOUSIt was February, 1909, that the park received its famous statue "The sculpted
figure of a girl" was offered to the Borough Parks Committee. The statue. known as
"the girl with the stolen rose" was sculpted by Herbert Lee to depict his
daughter Lalla. The family lived on Pevenl Road, Chesterfield, which was then known as
Dark Lane. |
Lalla, the youngest child, helped her mother to gather flowers in the garden. and on
one occasion stole a rose, hiding it behind her back. It was in this pose that her father
sculpted the statue, which was optionaly situated in the Lee family's own garden, where it
attracted the interest of passengers on the trams that passed the house.PRESENTEDHerbert Lee eventually presented the statue to the Park in order to avoid offending two of his friends, both of whom wanted to obtain it from him. Situated near the cricket ground, it remains a source of interest to the Park's visitors. Sadly Lalla herself was killed in an accident many years later, while visiting her brother in Chesterfield Hospital. |
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