The statue, by George G Adams of London, was erected 21 years after Cobden's death. The redevelopment of St Peter's Square is the first phase of the é500m regeneration of Stockport town centre.

Simply sign up to the Life & Arts myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox. Last May, a man dressed in climbing gear prepared to scale Richard Cobden’s statue.

The nearby statue of his fellow free-trader Richard Cobden has become a popular latrine with the local bird population. And so a visual metaphor — about the soiled, neglected idea of trade ...