Water Vole Trinity Stone Sculpture, Darlington, England. - Abstract Public Sculptures on Waymarking.com

This is 1 of 3 trinity stone sculptures placed within the West Park Nature Reserve. Each of the sculptures weighs 10 tonnes. The stones for the sculptures all come from nearby Cat Castle quarry in Teesdale.

The West Park Nature reserve was created as part of the wider West Part development. The brain child of local builder and developer Tony Cooper.

Mr Cooper is the director of local developers, Bussey & Armstrong. When he envisioned this new development and the nature reserve it would contain he wanted art to be the central link.

Each trinity stone sculpture is modeled and named after an indigenous species to the area before the development started.

This particular piece is named after the Water Vole. It has at the centre of the stones a bronze bowl displaying the name of the species the piece represents. As well as a haiku poem inscribed in to a bronze tablet.

Water Vole Haiku:

“Diver from the bank
Pearls of air catch your fur
And scatter in silt”

This piece has an additional feature. Another bronze tablet with an inscription from "The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Greene". The inscription reads as follows:

“A dark hole just above the water’s edge caught his eye
Something bright and small seemed to twinkle down in the heart of it like a tiny star
Then as he looked it winked at him and declared itself to be an eye.”
Extract from Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame'.

This of course, from the very beginning of the book is referring to Ratty the water vole character from the book.
.

This is a collaborative piece. Done by sculptor David Paton, blacksmith Matthew Jarratt and poet W.N Herbert.



Source: (visit link)

Title: Water Vole Trinity Stone Artist: David Paton, Matthew Jarratt and W.N. Herbert Media (materials) used: Stone and steel Location (specific park, transit center, library, etc.): West Park Nature Reserve Date of creation or placement: Not listed

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   12/15/2020 cmiller38 visited it