Horsebere Meadow
(2006)
Location : Longlevens, Gloucester
Materials : European Oak, Ceramics
Funding : Gloucester City Council
The site of Horsebere Meadow is a remnant section of an ancient agricultural field system which used the ridge & furrow method. This small parcel of land, which still has some ridge & furrow remnant ground formations, is now an island of green in a sea of housing. Horsebere Meadow will be maintained as a small wildlife sanctuary and informal recreational area.
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Continuum II
Continuum II (detail)
Continuum II & Continuum III make oblique reference to the ancient ridge and furrow landscape found on the site, while echoing themes explored in my earlier work (see Conduit & Continuum)
Continuum III (left) & Continuum II (right) set in the meandering path running through Horsebere Meadow
I was commissioned by Gloucester City Council to make two seats for the site and to engage the local community in workshops to raise awareness of the Council's plans for the site. Building on my previous experience of creating hand made and carved bricks (see Seed of Hope) I devised a project with the nearby primary school at Longlevens. Working with a group of thirty year five children, we visited the then semi wild site of Horsebere Meadow to explore and draw the wild plants and creatures that lived there. Back in the classroom the children drew up designs which, at a later session, they carved into the top surface of clay brick pavers, prior to firing. The children's bricks were later incorporated into the meandering pathway.
Enormous thanks to Coleford Brick & Tile Company, based in the Forest of Dean, who were kind enough to support this part of the project. Along with transporting the bricks to and fro, they supplied and fired the bricks free of charge.
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Four examples of the many bricks are shown below.
