Sally Matthews – Breasty Haw – 1987 + 1989
(Above – Boars III left IV middle, VII right, in the middle of the clearing.)
Material: Wood, Cement, Organic Materials
Trail: Bogle Crag Trail
Theme: Nature
Form: Figurative – Boars
Maps Featured on: 1989 – 2005
Status: Still in situ, minus 3, weathered, Oct 22
This is a herd of 8 boars in the forest and 2 in the Grizedale gallery.
Key to Boar numbering:
- Boar I. Wallowing in Bog left
- Boar II. Wallowing in Bog right
- Boar III. Central, Mouth open
- Boar IV. Standing, opposite III
- Boar V. Lying down next to IV – Gone
- Boar VI. Left of clearing low down
- Boar VII. Scratching on tree
- Boar VIII ?
- Boar IX. Grizedale Gallery/ The Yan
- Boar X. Ruskins Museum
Quote from the Artist: “I was given a one month’s residency in 1987 to make a wild boar. I was soon given more time to increase the herd. I studied boars before making them at Grizedale, but the atmosphere and reality of the forest influenced the form they took.”
From ‘With Animals’ book 1994
(Above – Boars IV standing and V being constructed.)“Choosing a site in such a large forest was difficult. I found a boggy hollow, away from the grey gravel forestry track, where people would have to walk amongst the boar and experience the sculpture. Looking for a site I discovered brush, dead wood, twisted roots & other debris of the forest. These materials were appropriate for the boars, bringing their structures and surfaces to life. The lie of the land dictated the position and movement of the boars. Each boar dictated the position of the next – an energy growing between them.”
(Above – Boars I left II right, wallowing in the muddy bog at the side of the clearing.)
“I began to make the first wallowing boars out of the mud they lay in, but they began to disintegrate almost as soon as I made them. I decided to add cement to make them more permanent, although they will not last for many years. They will decay and change like their surroundings.”
(Above – Boars IV standing and V lying down.)
Photograph Taken June 2019
Above are two maquettes of the wild boars. The label for these said ‘9 wild boar maquettes’ number 1 & 2. So I assume there were 7 other maquettes presumably showing the boars in different positions. The two at least are now located in the Grizedale Arts office in Coniston.
The name Grizedale is derived from the Norse meaning ‘Valley of the Pigs’, due to the boars that once lived here. This current herd of boars were made over 3 visits to the forest.
Above – Boars III middle IV right (Boar V has disappeared) IV left.
Photograph taken 2008
Sited relatively far off the track at Breasty Haw, over a stream by a boggy area. We had to ask a fellow walker where they were when we first tried to find them. All the boars are in different stances, and at first glance you could be forgiven for thinking they were real.
These close ups show the different wear on the boars over time. This first one most central, in a standing pose has lost a lot of its bulk. While the next two seem to have maintained their form a lot better, being more sheltered by trees.
They have been in the forest now for three decades in the forest. The area has never been felled, (although the adjoining trees have been). This may have helped preserve them overall.
Photographs taken 2010
Below are the pair of boars wallowing in the boggy area just offset from the main group. The left hand boar being so low down is completely hidden in summer months when the grass in high.
Boars I & II close up
Photograph taken Dec 2020
Photograph taken 2017
(Above – Boars III front IV left VII middle)
The weird thing about the photograph above is that a boar that had previously vanished has re appeared. The middle of the three, which seems to be scratching his behind (and is clearly seen in the top photograph) is absent from my older photos from 2008 or 2010 (below). I thought this boar had disintegrated, leaving only bits of metal behind, which can just be made out below. The boar that is now in situ in 2017 is in the same condition as the rest of the herd, I assume someone moved this boar and it was subsequently moved back.
Above Boars III right IV middle VI left. Boar VII remains only visible above Boar III.
Photograph taken 2008
It would be possible to get all of the boars in one shot if you were tall enough, below is my attempt, with a slight cheat of adding a second shot in the corner.
Left to right Boars VI, IV, VII, I, II, III
Photograph taken Dec 2020
Photograph by Reece Ingram 1997
The waymaker for this piece was a mosquito, created and sited in 1997. It was later removed from here and placed next to Pyxis, presumably when the Boars stopped being listed on maps.
The final two boars have escaped the destructive climate of the forest. These two were sited in the Gallery in the Forest. I believe these were the last to be created in 1989. The gallery closed in 2002 and I think the boars went into storage.
One of these gallery boars, Boar IX. re appeared in the visitor centre. This boar, looks as good as new, never having been subjected to the forest weather. Note the hair, tusks and noticeable wooden skeleton frame.
Photograph taken 2017
(Boar IX. In Gallery foyer in Visitor Centre.)
During 2019 Sally Matthews returned with an exhibition and a different metal boar graced this spot, meaning boar IX moved into The Yan.
Photograph taken October 2019
(Boar IX. In The Yan.)
The partner piece, Boar X. is now on display in the Ruskin Museum in Coniston. A sign beside the boar reads “Grizedale Boar, mud and roots on a wire armature by Sally Matthews. On loan from Grizedale Arts.” I don’t know how long it has been there, presumably loaned when the Gallery in the Forest closed in early 00s.
Photographs taken February 2019
(Boar X. In Ruskin Museum, Coniston.)
The boars are no longer listed on the current maps, they haven’t been listed since the 2003-5 map. Although they have decayed a bit more they are still present and still well worth a visit, if you can find them.
Sculpture in other Artworks
Grizedale 4 – 1991 – Panayiotis Kalorkoti
One of the boars features centrally in this painting above. 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 –
Gallery Boars – 1988
A Cry In The Wilderness – 1990
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 