Peter Turner returns to St Olave’s after 70 years in exile
(Last Updated: 09-05-2012)
We are delighted to announce that the 17th century memorial bust of Dr Peter Turner has been returned to St Olave's after an absence of just over 70 years.
The finely detailed alabaster sculpture, part of a larger monument, some smaller elements of which survive, went missing from the bombed ruins of the church in 1941 and only surfaced in April 2010, when it came up for sale in a UK auction. The auctioneers, Dreweatts, froze the sale while The Art Loss Register, acting on behalf of St Olave's, negotiated the bust's return to its proper home. Thanks to the goodwill of two European antique dealers and the careful work of our advisers, the way eventually became clear for the bust to come back to Hart Street.
The war-damaged church in 1942. It was restored between 1951 and 1954 but the corner where Dr Turner's monument was situated has remained empty until this day.
Dr Turner, who died in 1614, was a distinguished physician in his time, practising at Bart's Hospital in London and attending on Sir Walter Ralegh when he was imprisoned in The Tower of London. His father, William Turner, who is also buried at St Olave's, was Dean of Wells Cathedral as well as a physician and is renowned to this day as the author of the first herbal in English and the first printed book devoted to birds.
The Revd Oliver Ross, Rector of St Olave Hart Street, says: "The return of Dr Peter Turner's bust to its rightful place at St Olave's is a cause for great celebration and all the more remarkable in its timing as the church has been seeking to make more of its historic association with William Turner. We are deeply grateful to the Art Loss Register for their diligent and generous efforts on our behalf, as well as to Dreweatts and the two dealers concerned, for enabling such a happy end to Dr Turner's long years of exile".
St Olave's is now taking further advice on the conservation of the bust and planning its reinstallation in the church, which will require approval from the Diocese of London.
The entire monument to Dr Peter Turner, as it is pictured in The Annals of The Parishes of St Olave Hart Street and All Hallows Staining in The City of London by The Revd Alfred Povah (19th century Rector)