Farnham Flower will bloom at Bellway’s Bishops Keep

Bellway’s Bishops Keep site, an exciting new housing scheme on the site of Farnham Hospital, is to be adorned by a specially commissioned sculpture, The Farnham Flower. Last week the sculptor, Will Spankie, who designed the work especially for this site, met with members of the Bellway sales team to show them his skills and display the maquette (a miniature prototype of the full-size sculpture).

The sculpture design was selected in a public competition which attracted fourteen entries. The Farnham Public Art Trust was responsible for administering the competition and the full-size work will be installed in early 2009.

Will Spankie said: “The brief was to provide a landmark feature which reflected the local connections, was sustainable, safe and fun for children and linked the new homes to the local hospital. I devised a design that is stimulating but which I hope helps to create a peaceful mood, yet is visible from the hospital. I carried out a lot of research. Farnham was formerly famous for its potteries producing owl jugs and trefoil vases. In addition, the name Farnham comes from Fern Ham, meaning water meadow with ferns. The combination of a trefoil design and ferns led naturally to the idea of a three-dimensional trefoil design that reflects some of the history of the region and also the natural, organic shapes of a plant”.

Alison Key, Sales Manager for Bellway Southern Counties, said: “It is a pleasure to be involving such talent in our new homes scheme. The artistic flourish that Will Spankie is bringing to the site will enhance still further what will be a rather lovely place to live. We are grateful to him and to the Farnham Public Art Trust for the care they have shown throughout this process”.

The Portland Stone art-work is two metres high and 900mm wide at the base.

For further information log on to Bellway.co.uk.