Sanctuary: Thousands gather to see Bedworth Covid memorial burned - bbc.com

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Thousands gathered to watch as a memorial to people who died during the pandemic was ceremonially burned.

The 20m (65ft) temple, called Sanctuary, was designed by artist David Best and has been open to visitors in Bedworth for the past week.

People were invited to add messages to the memorial, which was erected at the Miner's Welfare Park.

On Saturday night it was razed to the ground to "help people heal" from the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Best said.

Crowds gather to watch the burning sculpture

"Sanctuary was a memorial to those lost to Covid," the artist, who is best known for his large-scale carved structures at the Burning Man festival in the US, said.

"But it was more than that, it was a space to hold grief and loss, whatever that might be.

"People ask why burn something so beautiful? I say, it takes something beautiful to hold all that emotion."

Seven torchbearers from the local community, including the Dean of Coventry and local artists, set the structure alight at sunset.

Helen Marriage, artistic director of producers Artichoke, said the project was conceived to "mark the nation's losses".

She said: "The thousands of visitors who have streamed into the memorial and left messages and the thousands more who came to watch it burn have shown how necessary it was."