'Eden Benchmarks'

Location : Mallerstang / Kirkby Stephen / Temple Sowerby /Appleby / Edenhall / Armathwaite / Wetheral / Carlisle / Rockcliffe

The East Cumbria Countryside Project was commissioned to create a series of ten site-specific, carved stone sculptures which also function as seats, situated on public paths along the length of the The River Eden from its source at Mallerstang to where it joins the sea at Rockcliffe, just north of Carlisle. The project involved ten different artists and was commissioned to mark the new Millennium.

There are 10 of them in all, each by a different sculptor, and selected in close consultation with local people. The River Eden provides a cohesive and spectacular context for the sculptures: collectively giving visual expression to local pride in the river and its surrounding landscape and individually fostering a profound sense of place at each location.

They're also a lovely place just to sit and quietly reflect on the river, on art, on landscape - and life.

An illustrated brochure with map showing locations of the Benchmarks is available direct from East Cumbria Countryside Project, Warwick Mill, Warwick Bridge, Carlisle CA4 8RR

‘Water Cut’ by Mary Bourne, on Lady Anne’s Way, Mallerstang
Map - Ordnance Survey - SD 786985

A sculpture by Mary Bourne of two colours of stone. The red tinged stone is common in the Eden Valley below and the grey limestone predominates on the fells. It is shaped rather like a tombstone riven from top to bottom by a serpentine space representing the river, and stands on Lady Anne’s Way, a public path along the eastern ridge of the Mallerstang Fells.

The sculpture can be seen on the skyline over a wide area and is visible from the Settle-Carlisle line between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen along the Mallerstang valley.

SD 7898

‘Passage’ by Laura White in Stenkrith Park, Kirkby Stephen
Map - Ordnance Survey - NY 774075

‘Red River’ by Victoria Brailsford, at Temple Sowerby
Map - Ordnance Survey - NY 605275

‘Primrose Stone’ by Joss Smith, near Bongate Mill, Appleby
Map - Ordnance Survey - NY 687199

‘South Rising’ by Vivien Monsdell, on Lady’s Walk near Edenhall
Map - Ordnance Survey - NY 569326

‘Vista’ by Graeme Mitcheson, Coombs Wood, Armathwaite
Map - Ordnance Survey - NY 507451

Carved from St Bees sandstone.

"This sculpture was the ninth of ten Eden Benchmarks. Imagine someone walking along this track in Cumbria, the River Eden flowing beneath him. It is a scorching hot day so he removes his ruc-sac, his boots and his clothes and lays them down on a rock, he then goes for a paddle in the water to cool off. It is this moment in time that I have tried to capture here. I have carved these things into the stone and also incorporated some important local references. These include a sundial constructed using the angle of a strewn trouser leg and the grid reference on the map."

Words and picture from www.chisel-it.co.uk.

‘Flight of Fancy’ by Tim Shutter, near Wetheral Railway Viaduct
Map - Ordnance Survey - NY 469543

‘Towards the Sea’ by Hideo Furuta, Bitts Park, Carlisle
Map - Ordnance Survey - NY 397566

These four sculptures describe a sequence of water-eroded stone running parallel with the flow of the river Eden. The artist was keen to use the local stone, which is the same stone from which Carlisle Castle is built.

‘Global Warming’ by Anthony Turner, Village Green, Rockcliffe
Map - Ordnance Survey - NY 357617

Related Links :

• East Cumbria Countryside Project