Angel sculpture, part of a vandalized monument in 1971, resurfaces after being found under bushes in a local cemetery.
This wasn’t the first time she was found. Someone found the sculpture 11 years before. They left her covered again. Now, people think it’s sad to bury her again.
The angel comes from a vandalized artwork. A wave of awful destruction broke many sculptures. The Gazette reported the damage in April 1971. About 170 gravestones got wrecked.
The destruction started near Vyne Road and ended at the Chapel Hill cemetery end. The damage probably happened on April 16th. One destroyed sculpture was of a small boy. Ronald Michael Dellafera died young. He ran into the road after his ball. He passed away in 1930, at only five years old.
The angel protected the little boy in the monument. The angel sculpture was made of white marble, and it’s the angel that has reappeared now. The Dellafera family had lots of history in town. Francesco Dellafera and Teresa Trimarco moved from Croydon in 1894 with interconnected Italian families.
Many worked as street musicians in London, and they all came from an Italian region near Naples. The family even ran a boarding house on Flaxfleld Road. The sons gave themselves English names and attended Fairfields School. They bravely fought in World War One. Antonio (Tony) Dellafera ran an antique shop located on New Street.
So, what should people do with the angel now? A head was found around 2007. A grant repaired the cemetery at that time, and the head was found by chance elsewhere. A grieving woman’s headless monument stood nearby.
The mason said the marble head didn’t fit. The Dellafera angel is marble, and her small feet sit on the family grave where the small boy rests. Other parts got removed from the sculpture.
Could the angel return to her base? Maybe her head could go back too. Do you have any suggestions or ideas?