Centurion Way Gateway Arch, Chichester

Help us restore this wonderful arch and artwork! Friends of Centurion Way are a community group who have worked in recent years to save this wonderful path and its artwork from decay and decline. Having saved the southern end of the path from diversion, we are delighted to be working with other user groups, South Downs National Park Authority and West Sussex County Council to reinstate its finest artwork - the Gateway arch at its southern end - which marks the start to this 9 km walking/cycling path along the disused railway from Chichester up into the National Park, with plans to extend its route all the way to Midhurst and the South Downs Way.

Our plans are ambitious – to restore and reinstate the arch, rebuilding the original structure in galvanised steel to ensure longevity. The original arch was sculpted from the hull of an old minesweeper from Portsmouth harbour in 1995 by Richard Farrington, and installed with the other wonderful sculptures along the path which remain. With your help, we will work with Southsea blacksmith, Peter Clutterbuck, who has a number of civic installations to his name, to restore the arch and its adorning original mythical sculptures. The arch creates a meeting point at the start of the path, and marks the crossing point of three cycleways - Centurion Way to the north, the Salterns Way to the South and the Chichester/ Emsworth NCN 2.

As part of our reinstatement project, we also plan mounted information boards at the site of the arch and up at the amphitheatre near the other original sculptures, and hope to work in partnership with the South Downs National Park in sourcing these.

Artwork is never cheap and we have been awarded a significant conditional grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (specifically for community heritage and artwork) via the District Council in addition to support from the City Council and a smaller grant from Miller Homes. West Sussex County Council own the land and will assist us with the reinstatement, working around the new Southern Access Road and its junction with Centurion Way. However, costs have risen and we now have to use an approved WSCC contractor for the arch reinstallation and foundations at a cost of over £6000 which we had not anticipated - in addition to various permissions and structural assessments. Thanks to generous support we have raised funds and now our target is to raise £4000+ by Christmas from the local community or from sponsored support (contact us for more details). Any surplus will go to fund information boards explaining the heritage of the arch and its artwork. We would be hugely grateful if any local residents or users of the path could support us - donations big and small really can make this project happen.

We are incredibly grateful to the local residents and councillors who have supported our campaign over the years. We will continue to post updates as this project progresses and for more information please go to our website at http://www.centurionway.org.uk/.