Robert Koenig – Low Bowkerstead – 1982
Material: Wood
Trail: Silurian Way
Theme: Humanity
Form: Figurative – Humans
Size: Carved Figures 4 Feet High
Maps Featured on: ?, 1984 – 2020
Status: Still in situ, shelter removed Sept 17
Quote from the artist – “The Guardians were carved from timber found in the area & were finally placed on top of a cliff nearby as guardians of the cliff on which they are sited. They relate to the other work (Triangular Suspension et al) in spirit.”
Positioned on a huge outcrop which is quite hard to climb. You’d never find these without a map. Two wooden people, (we always thought looked like they were waiting for a bus). They are across the valley from Koenigs other sculptures, looking down as if protecting them.
The positions of the figures is actually based on the “‘Chrystus Frasobliwy’ figure familiar in Polish folk art.” (Christ sitting with one hand under his chin). “It fascinated me for what it represented, why was the figure so? Was it a worried figure or was it just resting? When I carved the second I slightly altered the position of the hands and made it more male… The head no longer sits on the palm of the hand, the hand is to the side as though the figure were shocked or shaken. My figures are not religious, they’re guardian spirits.” – Koenig
Photograph taken 2012
The shelter above them was “for practical reasons, to protect them from the elements; they should be housed, be protected. They weren’t made for the cliff originally, it was one of a number of places they could have been put, other places were near becks, streams nearby.” – Koenig
Interestingly the shelter which was initially made to protect them was removed by 2012, leaving the two figures exposed to the elements.
Photograph taken 2018
Photographs by Mike Kewley. Website Link Here.
There was a Waymarker for Guardians from 1997 to around 2002, when this marker was moved to the Ridding Wood Trail.
Sculpture in other Artworks
Grizedale 2 – 1989 – Panayiotis Kalorkoti
One Guardian can be seen in the bottom middle of this picture. Further examples of other sculptures used in Kalorkoti’s work can be seen in the Gallery in the Forest Page.
Artist’s other work in Grizedale –
Triangular Suspension, Trophies, Multiple Arch – 1982
Compound for Redundant Symbols – 1982
Signpost – 1982
Private Meeting– 1983
Artist’s Website: www.robertkoenig-sculptor.com/
Page last updated Jan 2021
Grizedale Forest Sculpture An Unofficial Archive 