THE memorial of one of Fenland’s most famous residents has been restored after Fenland District Council received a �20,000 donation.

Wisbech Society chairman Brian Payne handed over the cheque to David Oliver, the council’s portfolio holder for Wisbech affairs, to pay for a new Supplicant plaque on the Clarkson Memorial in the town’s Bridge Street.

The plaque, carved by Corin Johnson, replaces its badly eroded predecessor and shows a slave in chains beneath an inscription which says ‘remember them that are in bonds’.

The memorial commemorates the Wisbech-born anti-slave campaigner Thomas Clarkson who played a key role in the signing of the Slave Trade Act in 1807.

Mr Payne said: “We wanted to help Fenland District Council as work needed to be done to the memorial.

“Thomas Clarkson is one of, if not the most famous of all Wisbech residents. The good people of the town saw fit to unveil the statue in 1881 and we strongly believe that it should be kept in good order.

“Many people come to the town of Wisbech to see the memorial - it’s one of the biggest and most impressive in all of East Anglia. We were happy to help get the work completed.”

The installation of the new plaque completes a four-year process to restore the iconic landmark and also marks the 130th anniversary of the building of the monument.