Wells will be the location for a new work by British sculptor Antony Gormley, and it has now been revealed.

Just over life size and named DOUBT it will be installed on the West Front of Wells Cathedral on August 26.

The West Front is made from local stone and over the centuries weathering and damage has occurred to the statues, resulting in a number of vacant niches.

It is one of these, Niche 338, which will be occupied by Gormley's sculpture, on loan from the artist for a period of 18 months. The work will be installed on the lowest tier of the West Front, beneath the North Tower.

Antony Gormley said: "I am very aware of the paradox of placing an object called DOUBT on the facade of a building devoted to belief, but it seems to me that doubting, interrogating, questioning, are all part of belief.

"For me doubt can be a positive force and the imaginative engine of future possibility. I am interested in conversations in and about time, and in art as a continuum that brings history to now, and vice versa.

"I have chosen this niche on the West Front of Wells Cathedral for its exposed position and visibility: the book at the end of the bookshelf.

"The layered facade plays a wonderful game with its serial structuring of absence and presence, of the named and nameless.

"Many of the features have been erased by time and weather, exposing the stone's material identity.

"The seriality of the niches, the quality and condition of the sandstone, and the gothic style of the front, are all complimentary qualities against which the geometric form, material, and industrial manufacturing methods of DOUBT are registered.

"Most of the figures on the west facade stand facing the world in an open attitude of confidence, proudly displaying their attributes – regal, military, and divine.

"In contrast, I have used the orthogonal geometry of our modern habitat to evoke the body as a place.

"DOUBT is literally on edge and teeters uneasily out of its niche, one foot perilously off the ledge and one shoulder jutting forward.

"This cast iron body has collapsed into itself, compressing torso to pelvis; energy is drawn inwards but the head juts out enquiringly into space at large.

"While installing a work in Devon in 1993, I stood for a moment high on the trunk of a 10-metre dead oak tree in order to understand the feeling of a living Nelson on his column in Trafalgar Square.

"In a similar way, I see DOUBT as an attempt to invoke this feeling of being isolated and exposed on the corner of a Gothic masterpiece.

"In the context of an 800-year-old celebration of hierarchy, I wish to make a space for a contemporary state of mind.

"Perhaps paradoxically, by using a rigorous abstract language, my primary purpose is to engage the eye and body of the viewer in empathic projection, to consider our time in the shelter of other times."

Although the sculpture is modestly sized by Gormley standards, great care has still been taken to ensure that there is no impact on the fabric of the cathedral.

The project has been given the go-ahead by the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, the body that oversees the care and conservation of Church of England cathedrals, and by Historic England.

Jez Fry, clerk of the works, Wells Cathedral, said: "A temporary plinth, secure non-invasive fixings and protective measures have all been specifically designed to seamlessly integrate the sculpture with the medieval architecture while in position, and then be fully reversible to return Niche 338 to its original condition.

"Final planning is now underway for the installation of DOUBT, and to ensure the safety and security of the sculpture as well as the cathedral."

The arrival of the sculpture on August 26, just in time for the Bank Holiday weekend, is the cue for a number of arts and community engagement projects which will be triggered by its presence.

In addition to educational projects for schools there will be a series of arts talks at Cedars Hall, the performing arts venue of Wells Cathedral School.

Antony Gormley himself has kindly donated an original lithograph entitled MANIFOLD which will be the subject of a prize draw.

The proceeds will support the projects mentioned above. More on how to enter the draw and perhaps win a Gormley lithograph at www.niche338.org.

Fundraising for the transport and installation of the sculpture, and for the ongoing community engagement projects, has been co-ordinated by Project Factory CIC in Wells.