Detail View: SHIMMER: Wath Headlands Parish Map

Wath Headlands Parish Map

1997

2002

20th century

Wath-upon-Dearne, South Yorkshire

ENGLAND, UK

iron - cast, steel , limestone - black Kilkenny , concrete - coloured

BRAILSFORD, Victoria and David MAYNE

r006

Location: On the Headland which protrudes into the lake north of Wath Manvers, Wath-upon-Dearne, South Yorkshire. Google maps < https://goo.gl/maps/bTLF0 > .

Description: A number of co-related artworks were sited on the Headland.

At the entrance to the site was Vic BRAILSFORD's 'Stone columns'. Two square pillars made up of layers of different stone whose thickness corresponds to the geological strata under the site. These have subsequently been vandalised.

At the far end of the site are two laser-cut stainless steel maps: these were cut, stencil-fashion, into stainless steel plate. One shows a cross section of the rock, coal seams, shafts etc for Wath Main Colliery; the other shows a map from c.1930 (containing railway sidings etc) and also one from c.1997 of the site. The artists had a cutting made through the prominent mound at the end of the Headland. The sides of the cutting were clad in black limestone; a reference to coal and to mining. The maps were bolted onto the sides of the cutting. They have subsequently been vandalised.

On the landward side of the above is a flat circular area containing four elements:
1. A circular coloured concrete floor with a design representing coal seams and rock strata.
2. A cast iron ring surrounding the floor. This was developed from working with 30 different schools, community groups etc. The ring contains a number of individual elements which chart the history of the area from the Carboniferous through to the present. It includes subject matter of various kinds including Geological, Agricultural and Industrial themes. Themes identified on the tiles include: " Dearne & Dove Canal / Great Central Railway 1850-1986 / Fossil Fuel Giant Club Moss / Carboniferous Period 345 Million Years Ago / Fire Heat Energy / Bituminous Anthracite / Hull & Barnsley Railway 1902-1954 / Coal Coke Lignite / Wath Main Colliery 1876-1986 / Midland Railway 1840-1987 "
3. Two benches made from slabs of black Kilkenny limestone sited, facing each other on the concrete floor.
4. Four painted mild steel and stainless steel viewpoint sculptures. These take the form of thin metal pyramids, wider at the front than the back, with a hole at eyelevel through which the eye is directed to a particular section of the landscape. Each one points towards the sites of pits and adjacent villages; a plaque on each sculpture records details about each place in view. The pyramids are all topped with flame-like elements of stainless steel; these represent regeneration and industry. [1]

Inscriptions: A stainless steel plaque on site records the following information:
"The Wath upon Dearne Parish Map was designed and developed by artists Victoria Brailsford and / David Mayne in conjunction with local schools and community groups under the guidance of the / Dearne Community Arts Panel. /
The Map records the heritage of the area and the many changes in the landscape which have / taken place, culminating in the regeneration of Manvers during the period 1989-1997. The Map / has been funded by English Partnerships, the Dearne Valley Partnership, Yorkshire & Humberside / Arts and Rotherham Borough Council. /
The Map was officially opened by / the worshipful the Mayor of Rotherham, Councillor G. Smith, / on 23rd October 1997. /
GROUPS AND SCHOOLS TAKING PART / [there follows a list of 11 local schools, two Brownies and one Guides Group, Dearne Valley College, Wath Community Association and Wath Arts Committee] "

Commission: Funded by English Partnerships, the Dearne Valley Partnership, Yorkshire & Humberside / Arts and Rotherham Borough Council. Joint commission. £73,000. [2] The artwork was formally unveiled on 23 October 1997 by Cllr. Gerald Smith, Mayor of Rotherham, and Cllr. Brian Walker, Chair of the Economic Development Committee, Rotherham MBC.

Comment: This project, involving an enormous amount of contact with the local community, and considerable research, promised to produce artworks of considerable stature and permanence. Sadly they have been a prey to vandalism from the moment they first appeared. The artists even had to hire a security firm to mount guard over the site at night while this work was being installed. [3] The partial destruction of this work is shameful. Brailsford and Mayne had produced artworks of quiet stature which told the history of the site in a number of elegant and restrained ways, and which, in part through the considerable local involvement in their manufacture, had gained substantial support from many in the community. A former miner from Manvers Pit, who was walking his dog on the site while this survey was carried out, was visibly upset to see recent damage to the map of the pit. He believed that this damage was the work of a very small group of children living in the area. [4]
The former railway sidings on the site, which served the many coal pits in the surrounding area, were the largest in Europe. No traces of them remain. The redevelopment of this site, the Manvers Regeneration Scheme (Lake and Golf Course Rotherham), won a Landscape Award in 2000 under the Civic Trust Award Scheme. A plaque onsite records this.

References: [1] Conversation with David Mayne (23/3/2003)
[2] James Copp document: "List of projects - 1990-1999."
[3] Conversation with David Mayne (23/3/2003)
[4] Conversation with passer-by.

© Sheffield Hallam University

For educational use only. This image may be used in print or digital materials provided that full acknowledgment is given, expressed as follows: " © < insert details from the 'Rights' field >. Photographed by < insert details from the 'Photographed by' field >."

Dave Ball

BRAILSFORD, Victoria

Sculptor.

Female.

British.

MAYNE, David

Sculptor. Ex-student at Sheffield Hallam University.

Male.

British.

Public art -- England (South Yorkshire)

Sculpture -- 1900-2000

Monuments -- England (South Yorkshire)

Maps in art

Heritage tourism -- England (South Yorkshire)

Rural renewal -- England (South Yorkshire)

Parks -- England (South Yorkshire)

Landscape design -- England (South Yorkshire)

Reclamation of land

%G

1

saved

True

/

False

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows

2015-02-17T15:09:18Z

2015-02-17T15:09:18Z

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows

xmp.did:0859768AB5B6E411A0BDFEA2293A8937

2015-02-17T15:09:18Z

saved

xmp.iid:0859768AB5B6E411A0BDFEA2293A8937

sRGB IEC61966-2.1

type=Struct

/

type=Struct

2007-07-16T18:28:57+01:00

type=Seq

image/jpeg

xmp.did:0859768AB5B6E411A0BDFEA2293A8937

3

2015-02-17T15:09:18Z

xmp.iid:0959768AB5B6E411A0BDFEA2293A8937

xmp.iid:0959768AB5B6E411A0BDFEA2293A8937