A maquette of the proposed life-size sculpture of Emily Wilding Davison, to be erected in Epsom town centre next year, has finally been unveiled.

The maquette of the sculpture of the suffragette was unveiled today (October 11) to mark her 146th birthday.

The maquette has been produced to enable residents, women’s history enthusiasts and potential sponsors to see how the finished sculpture will look.

The bronze sculpture commissioned by the Emily Davison Memorial Project would sit on a pale granite bench allowing visitors to sit with her.

There are plans to make the statue interactive so anyone with a smartphone could hear an actress relay her story, as they sit on the bench beside her.

The artist Christine Charlesworth spent some time researching her subject with the help of historians before she started working on the maquette.

Beside the statue would be some of her favourite books, together with the mortar board which she wore on suffragette marches.

The suffragette, who was force fed 49 times, would wear a hunger strike medal with seven bars: one for each time she went on hunger strike.

Her hat would be a copy of the hat she wore at the Epsom Derby on the day she died (June 4, 1913).

Paul Taylor, vice chair of the Emily Davison Memorial Project, said: “This is more than just a statue. Christine has added details of Emily’s life that most people are unaware of to the sculpture and with the added technology enabling people to hear her story we hope current and future generations will get to know the real Emily Davison.”

Work on the main figure is expected to start start in November 2018, and unveiling is planned for June 2019.

Limited edition bronze and bronze resin collectors’ pieces are on sale to finance the £50,000 needed for the sculpture.