Donald Rankin – Satterthwaite School – 1984
Material: Stone
Trail: High Bowkerstead Trail
Theme: Buildings
Form: Representational – Building
Maps Featured on: 1984 – 1997
Status: Removed
Quote from Bill Grant about Rankin – “He completely captivated the staff and pupils alike (at Satterthwaite Junior School) with his mediaeval fortress, which is perched apparently precariously on the edge of a dramatic rock outcrop in the grounds.”
Newspaper Articles above about building the Fort
This miniature fort was built, with the help of the pupils at Satterthwaite school grounds on a huge rock outcrop, using dry stone wall technique. Rankin returned in 1985 and 1986 to add to the piece. I am not sure of the exact size of the piece as I never saw it, it looks large but apparently was quite small “Donald Rankin’s 1984 Fort looked enormous until I found a photograph of it scaled by the human body, then the seemingly gigantic became a miniature.” Quote from Edwina Fitzpatrick 2014
Photograph Taken by Robzet approximately 1996
The top photograph being the oldest shows how it was originally clear of scrub around the work, this was either cleared regularly or just took a while to grow. Between the mid 90s and the time it went, early 00s it became very overgrown.
The staff and pupils loved the work so much they adopted it as the artwork for use in its logo. It was last listed on the 1997 sculpture map. I’m not sure what happened to the sculpture, by the looks of the second photo it slowly started falling apart, whether it was left to completely collapse or was removed I don’t know. The school itself closed in 2006 and is now a private house.
Artist’s other work in Grizedale –
Island Earth – 1984
Page last updated April 2020
Grizedale Forest Sculpture An Unofficial Archive 