The Pugin effigy that features so prominently in our branding was kindly lent to us by his current custodians, Alton Towers, in 2022 for Alton, Staffs History and Heritage day, which formed part of a weekend of Jubilee celebrations.
Augustus spent the day being the star attraction of our Alton Towers restoration exhibit at Alton Castle, and seemed very content to be in such familiar surroundings, especially as he had gone through more than his fair share of treacherous adventures to get there.
The effigy itself was cast and created in fibre glass from Pugin’s very tomb in St Augustine’s, Ramsgate, in 1994 as part of the V&A’s exhibition. After the exhibition was over, Person PLC, the sponsor of the event, requested it to be gifted to Alton Towers. At some point during his residence at the Towers, Augustus had a traumatic makeover when he was allegedly spray painted sliver, with the name of either Derek or Graham scrawled across his forehead. In his new persona as either Graham or Derek, Augustus spent his days draped in artificial spider’s webs and scaring visitors at Halloween in one of the park’s scare maze attractions.
In 2005, Michael Fisher was visiting the Towers, and oversaw a number of architectural relics along with fragments of sculptures and metal work being recovered from the Towers ruins. At one point Michael allegedly exclaimed “It’s Augustus!” on discovering the venerable architect in the most undignified of states.
Augustus was duly rescued and restored, and all traces of his life as a scare actor were erased. From there, he was temporally relocated to the Pugin Centre in Cheadle, where he happily lived until the centre closed in December 2012. Once again, Augustus returned home to the Towers but like the Legend of the Chained Oak, the story didn’t end there…
Whilst details are scarce, it is thought that Augustus once again went into storage somewhere in the Towers. In fact, there is a photo of him online, taken at some point by Towers Times, stood in the corner of the Towers archive, wearing a black felt hat. However, around 2020, more misfortune befell poor Augustus when during a clear out he somehow allegedly ended up in a skip in a car park. Fortunately for Augustus, he was spotted by a knowledgeable senior member of staff who, on instantly recognising the esteemed architect, promptly pulled him out of the rubbish.
Once again, Augustus’ dignity was restored and from there he went to live in the Towers maintenance and engineering offices, where he is still believed to reside today.
Hopefully Augustus is still enjoying office life with the photocopier and water cooler gossip for entertainment, but maybe someone should check in on him, just in case he has gone on another one of his misadventures!
Sources:
Augustus as the Pugin Centre
Picture of Augustus in the Towers archive room:
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