Artwork trail set to link new and old town

Amended plans for a public art trail linking a market town's historic centre with its new parts have been given the go-ahead.

Seven sculptures will be placed along a walking route between the older parts of Watlington and its new developments after South Oxfordshire District Council granted planning permission in November.

Five of the works in the ArtSpine Project will be large clay busts by sculptor Joseph Hillier, chosen through a national competition, while the other two will be developed by local artists.

They will be installed across five location, after two of the places in the original application - the Town Hall and the land in front of St Leonard's Church - got withdrawn.

Watlington Parish councillor Steve Bolingbroke, who leads on the project, said the new housing developments in the west of the town would increase its size "substantially", by 40%.

He said developers were required to provide funds for public art, so now the local authority has about £125,000 to spend solely for that purpose.

Bolingbroke said Hillier's busts would reflect the built architecture of Watlington, which is largely brick.

"They are about a metre-high human head busts, mounted on steel plinths."

Hillier said each of them explored a different aspect of "this unique place", from the chalk stream to the diverse habitats of the yew forests on Watlington Hill.

The artist, who is currently working on the pieces in his studio in Northumberland, said he had mostly been inspired by "the rich intertwined communities that make Watlington the warm and welcoming place I have found".

He added the sculptures were due to be installed in the summer.

Bolingbroke said one of them showed the moon shining through beechwoods, "which are characteristic of the Chilterns".

He said the pieces by the two artists would be reflecting other aspects of the town.

Bolingbroke said they had applied for "more locations than we strictly needed" and had wanted to the public reaction.

The project lead said the proposal to feature two of the sculptures in front of the the Town Hall and St Leonard's Church "did attract some some concern from local residents".

One said: "The disembodied head sculpture planned to be placed beside the church and yard is totally inappropriate for a place where worship and prayer have been conducted for several centuries".

Bolingbroke said they listened to the feedback and had withdrawn those two locations.

All the seven artworks will now be installed across Hill Road Car Park, The Paddock, Mansle Gardens, Asgard Green on the new Red Kite View development and on the Willow Close footpath on the new Hampden Meadows development.

Bolingbroke said that since The Paddock and Mansle Gardens were owned by the parish council, no planning permission was needed for them.

"Creating this kind of physical and visual link between the old and new parts of the town is a major part of us creating the new community of Watlington."

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