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Council ditches Eric Gill tribute plan
A complaint about the controversial sexual reputation of famed craftsman Eric Gill has prompted councillors to drop his name for a new road.
The widely acclaimed sculptor, stonecutter and printmaker was lined up for more recognition at a new cul-de-sac not far from Gill's old workshops off upmarket Folders Lane, Burgess Hill.
But, after a complaint from a speaker at a planning meeting, Burgess Hill Town Council dropped the idea of naming it Eric Gill Close.
Planning consultant Peter Rainier told the planning councillors on behalf of developer Alan Clark, from Burgess Hill, that there was an objection to Eric Gill Close, which had been put forward by the council as an alternative to an earlier suggestion.
The achievements of Gill, born in Brighton in 1882, who lived in Ditchling, are celebrated in Ditchling Museum and his work was of such high quality that his Station of the Cross was commissioned for Westminster Cathedral in London.
Gill, who died in 1940, was married with children, but his frank and explicit diaries of sexual activity have provoked claims that, despite his Catholic faith, he was involved in what some people consider unacceptable sexual conduct.
For more on this story see this week's Mid Sussex Times.
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Weather for Haywards Heath
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 13 C to 25 C
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