Sculpture Tail Sun Dial - Rothwell Country Park, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 45.813 W 001° 28.477
30U E 600550 N 5958294
This large simple sundial is one of 21 'Changing Places' sculptures in Rothwell Country Park's Sculpture Trail.
Waymark Code: WM13MFP
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/07/2021
Views: 3
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History
Rothwell Country Park used to be occupied by Rothwell Colliery, but following its closure in 1983 it became a post-industrial wasteland, remnants of which are still visible today.
Fortunately in the mid 1990s a partnership was formed between local people, Leeds City Council and Groundwork Leeds which saw a transformation of the area. Over the next 5 years extensive landscaping of the site allowed the land to be carefully reprofiled and tracts of meadow, woodland and wetlands were created. Finally on the 24th of June 2000 Rothwell Country Park opened to the public, providing this corner of Leeds with much needed oasis. In 2010 the Friends of Rothwell Country Park was set up to help manage the park for both people and wildlife. Contact either the Trust or Friends of Rothwell Country Park to volunteer on site and get involved with managing the site.
Rothwell Country Park is part of a corridor of green spaces in the Lower Aire Valley in Leeds which is owned by Leeds City Council and managed in partnership with the Trust.
Sculpture trail
The Rothwell Country Park Sculpture Trail is situated on the former pithead and there are still relics of the industrial heritage of the site. A large open area, with a couple of picnic benches on, is the site of the stockyard and under the moss you can still see the railway lines in the concrete floor. There is a circle of road in the centre of the sculpture trail, which would have housed the mines' emergency gear platform on the curbed area.
The first sculpture you come to is called ‘Breaking the Mould’ by sculpture Andrew McKeown. It is a giant seed which has emerged from an industrial mould which represents new life and growth emerging from industrial decline. There are 21 of these stone and iron sculptures to mark each of the 21 ‘Changing places’ regeneration sites across England and Wales. The sculpture celebrates and marks the £60 million Changing Places programme which transformed 1,000 hectares of post-industrial derelict land into parks and open spaces.
As you wander through the trail you will find a whole host of stone figures, willow arches and a sun dial."
link
The Sundial
Set into the ground next to a path that takes you past a number of other sculptures the gnomon is approximately 10 feet tall made of blue painted metal poles. The hours are marked on wooden posts also set into the ground and are marked in both Greenich Mean Time (GMT) and British Summer Time (BST)>
The area around the sculpture trail has a large number of silver birch trees and since the sun dial was erected in 2000, the trees have grown somewhat. Unfortunately the trees can block the light of the sun enough that no shadow may actually be cast on the hour markers.