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Situated in Murray Drive are four colourful concrete elephants.
This area of Stonehouse was intended to be the beginning of the development of Stonehouse New Town, like East Kilbride. The project was supposed to bring the construction of more than 22,000 homes in the countryside surrounding the village, as well as swimming pools, gymnasiums, shopping centres and possibly the re-introduction of the railway line. However, after building just 96 homes on the edge of Stonehouse by 1976, the remainder of the project was scrapped – and the land was sold back to the local farmers.
These sculptures were commissioned by the East Kilbride and Stonehouse Development Corporation, with artist and sculptor Stanley Bonnar who also created concrete elephants that were installed in some of East Kilbride’s housing estates. With each elephant weighing a quarter of a ton and standing a metre high, the elephants were designed as a play facility.
In 2022, the elephants were given a “makeover” by local artist Rae Mcullough, along with the some of the village’s schoolchildren, including Rebecca McTaggart of Newfield Primary and Amy Gilmour of Stonehouse Primary.
To see more works by Stan Bonnar, click HERE.
To visit Stan Bonnar’s website click HERE.
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