‘ARISE’ has taken flight and gone but it will be back in Ludlow.

This is the name given by artist Matt Smart to a very catching aeroplane that was on display at St Laurence Church during the Fringe Festival.

It took six hours to put the plane in place carefully, and strongly fixed to resist the winds that planes are designed to catch.

The installation, called ‘Arise’ took several months of planning.

The St Laurence’s Church artist in residence for the week, Matt Smart, assembled the plane from three main sections and three small trim pieces.

He says that it is much lighter than it looks. Once assembled, Matt was helped with lifting it by a Ludlow resident and the chairman of the Ludlow Arts Society.

It is the tail plane of a Cessna 150 light aircraft and is owned by a film maker near Aberystwyth.

The tail accidentally hit a fence while another pilot was turning it on an airfield.

It is the only Cessna 150 in the UK that was painted in pale pink, which goes well with the Shropshire sandstone of St Laurence Church.

From some angles the tailplane forms a cross shape.

“There are many ways to think of the plane. In the context of the church, it could be a symbol of descent from above and the ability to rise again from our challenges,” said Matt.

It is hoped that it will go on display in Ludlow again at some time in the future.

Matt Smart was in the archaeology team which located the remains of two Saints: the missing members of the Russian royal family, Anastasia and the Tsar’s son Alexei, heir to the Russian throne.

He is a member of the Ludlow Art Society, serves on its committee and established a gallery to exhibit artists with diagnosed mental health conditions, giving a voice to people who often find it hard to be heard.

Matt has won national prizes for sculpture, and has set up a not-for-profit company to encourage more engaged public art.