Sally Matthews – Bogle Crag – 1990
Material: Wood, Organic Materials
Trail: Bogle Crag Trail
Theme: Animals
Form: Figurative – Hounds, Deer
Maps Featured on: 1991 – 2005
Status: Still in situ, very weathered, in part Oct 2022
This sculpture depicts a hunt in progress, as is common amongst the lakeland fells. Unlike Matthews’ other two artworks which consist of multiples of one animal here we have three hounds chasing the one deer hind.
Quote from the Artist “I imagined the chase weaving its way up a steep slope… I couldn’t find (what) I had in mind, then, finally, I saw a place that seemed right. There was a slope with a stream and a wall at its base, which would impose a new rhythm on the sculpture.”
Quote from the artist “I thought I had chosen a secluded part of the forest. It wasn’t long before I discovered… that I was actually making it on the route of an orienteering trail. It seemed I couldn’t escape from the feelings that human presence brings. This is a sculpture that has a human presence with it. I wonder whether the dogs were set on the deer by someone, or if they had escaped from kennels. I didn’t want to draw any conclusions or make any judgements with the sculpture.”
Despite being on an orienteering trail, this sculpture, far off the main walking track as it is, is difficult to find making it ultimately more rewarding to encounter this scene. Made out of chicken wire, concrete and wood the animals are very lifelike.
Quote from the Artist: “I repaired the deer and dogs on subsequent visits, but they never looks as good . When you mend something you see all the things that were originally wrong.”
The four animals that make up the sculpture are hard to capture in one shot. Two of the hounds lag behind and are in the process of climbing over the stone wall. The third (just above) is across the stream positioned low to the ground as if about to pounce, and is right on the deer’s heels.
The deer, supposedly a pregnant hind, can be seen above in detail. Below is a photograph that shows the distances between the animals. You can see one hound just behind the deer on the left and just make out the two dogs on the wall in the background.
Photographs by Mike Kewley. Website Link Here.
Being sited so far off the path, A Cry in the Wilderness had two waymarkers, created & sited in 1997. The first on the bend in the forest track was the badger, the second an ant was further down. The badger was removed around 2004 now marks Private Meeting. The ant was removed and destroyed by Grizedale Arts in 2000.
Originally sited in tall pine trees as seen above. These were then cut down and after only seeing the artwork once, we wrongly assumed it had gone. I found out in 2013 it was still in situ. these are the photos of how it looked then.
You can see the toll time has taken on them. The two dogs leaping the wall have lost their extremely long tails and though the shape is the same some form has been lost. In the photo above you can just see the deer the other side of the stream.
The deer now looks more forlorn that ever, having been exposed to the elements for so long. Below is the third dog, which is being surrounded by undergrowth. It is lying down, stalking, its head on the left of the shot.
This is the view of the dogs on the wall from the other side. The one with his head down is remarkably preserved, the wall sheltering it more that its comrade.
Photographs taken 2014
As of 2017 the area has been closed off as work on a bridge over a stream by the artwork was undertaken. This I now know to be a new trail which has been created. Ironically removing the ‘wilderness’ from the work.
This has sadly impacted the artwork. The wall has been raised and the standing hound now can’t see over the wall, and the well preserved dog on top of the wall has either fallen or been knocked down and placed on top of the wall, being damaged in the process.
Between December 2020 and October 2022, the two dogs on the wall have now been removed. Leaving only the deer and the dog on the ground to become more and more weathered.
Artist’s other work in Grizedale –
Wild Boar Clearing – 1988
Gallery Boars – 1988
Wolves – 1993
The Hunted Exhibition – 2019
Wolves – 2021
Artist’s Website: www.sallymatthews.co.uk
Page last updated Oct 2022
Grizedale Forest Sculpture An Unofficial Archive 