Grizedale

This website is a resource for any sculpture hunters, it is a purely personal project I hope it serves you well.

Sculpture Map

This lists all sculpture past and present.

Key: Blue – Still in Situ             Yellow – Inaccessible/ Severly Damaged still in situ

Red –  Gone          Green – Gone, Location Unknown

Current Sculptures

This is a list of every sculpture in the forest, that I would say are still visible.

65 are listed here.

Grizedale Visitor Centre provides maps and guides for the current sculptures but they don’t list them all. (Some are new, some have been forgotten about, some are classed as damaged etc).

This Project

My original aim for this site was to collect all of my photographs of the sculptures in Grizedale from the early 90’s to the present day, together into one location. It has evolved to become a comprehensive list detailing all the sculptures that have been sited in the forest since 1977.

I have always loved Grizedale because of the sculptures. It hasn’t been easy tracking down information and photographs of a lot of the artworks. As Edwina Fitzpatrick who created an archive in 2014 for a PHD wrote “Until 1998 the Grizedale Society’s documentation and archiving of the artworks was a sporadic activity often relating to an upcoming book or Sculpture Guide Map.” This coupled with the fact that that “if the director liked the work it would be promoted and put on the Guide Map, and if not it would be quietly forgotten about.” This meant that even having read numerous books, magazines, and guides on the sculptures there are still some that have fallen through the cracks and have over time become lost.

It is the nature of Grizedale that the sculptures disappear over time. The majority of the sculptures were created in the forest, from materials found there. They were designed to be temporary and return to the forest naturally. Therefore the only way of preserving them is through photography. It is important to remember however this isn’t the intended way to experience these artworks.

“Photography reduces sculpture to a two dimensional image. No photograph can fully explain Grizedale forest sculpture… Sculptures don’t have backs and fronts, they work from all angles, some have outside and an inside as well. Photographs can lie about size, scale and the situation. They cannot show the changing light and colours, the way a piece is made, and about how it is falling apart. The sculptures are made from forest products. They have their own life-cycles, are subject to forest conditions, growth, weather, damp.” – David Kemp, Sculptor

Moreover the transient nature of the artwork poses a dilemma. “Which photograph should I use… the ‘pristine’ sculpture just after completion; the ‘mature’ sculpture, which has adjusted to the topography/landscape/climate of the site; or the ‘disappearing’ sculpture almost indistinguishable from the landscape?” – Edwina Fitzpatrick.

I have tried on this website where possible to show the sculptures in all of these forms. Ideally starting with an image of the sculpture when new. A lot of these images are courtesy of the Artists themselves or Grizedale publications. My subsequent photographs show the sculptures change with the passage of time. Some coming full circle, having been created in towering pines, only to be exposed when these were felled and housed in trees once again with regrowth.

This changing nature of the artworks is what fascinates me about the forest. I’m not alone in this and have had immense help from fellow members of the public who have shared their knowledge, official sculpture photographers and artists who have shared their stories and photographs. This would not have been possible without publications produced by Grizedale itself.

All the information on this website is correct as to my knowledge. Hundreds of sculptures have been sited in the forest over the last 40 years and it is increasingly difficult to find information out about the older artworks. I am constantly on the look out for old maps, publications, and photographs. Please contact me if you have anything to add to this site.

As there are so many artworks created over the years, I have arranged them by date created. There is also a box below to search by artist or sculpture. I hope you enjoy this website.

Missing Pieces of the Archive

Information I am currently missing and would love to find:

Any Photograph of –

  • Wall Relief – Ken Turnell
  • Rabbit 2 – Alan Grimwood
  • Fork Ladders (in the forest) – David Nash
  • Matter of Facts – Paul Cooper
  • Domestic Appliance – John Atkin
  • Capercaillie Junction – Steve Keegan
  • 2 Missing Waymarkers – Reece Ingram

Exact Location in the forest of –

  • Confrontation – Kevin Harrison
  • The Rider – Ken Turnell
  • Mayo Landscape – Joe Mahon
  • Slate Straddled, Splayed – Paul Mason
  • Matter of Facts – Paul Cooper
  • Fork Ladders – David Nash
  • Sections of Sitka Spruce – Giles Kent
  • Capercaillie Junction – Steve Keegan
  • Several Waymarkers Original Position – Reece Ingram

Maps I am missing –

  • 1977 – 1980 (if exists)
  • 1982 – 1983
  • 1985 – 1986
  • 1988 (if exists)
  • 1992 (if exists)
  • 1999/2000 (if exists)
  • 2002 (if exists)
  • 2007 – 2012
  • 2014 – 2017