The Golden Valley Sundial – on the meadow at Hellens

This summer, artists Chris Poolman and Grace Emily Manning present ‘The Golden Valley Sundial’, a touring outdoor artwork that brings together folk-history, agricultural practices, and the lived experience of contemporary, rural communities.

The work was commissioned by Meadow Arts, a contemporary visual arts charity who work in unexpected and rural places. The work emerges from their Our Place Golden Valley project, a three-year creative health project exploring what it means to live in, and belong to, a geographically and culturally distinct rural landscape.

The Ledbury-based artists have spent a year working with communities in the Golden Valley in Southwest Herefordshire. This process has culminated in The Golden Valley Sundial, a large-scale, modular artwork and interactive game which will tour the county, stopping off at Hellens for a week in June!

Through collaborative workshops and sustained engagement, the artists captured the community’s experiences of rural and agricultural life, and knowledge of local flora and fauna. Constructed from locally-sourced wool, cob and plant pigments, and illustrating a range of new folk-tales, The Golden Valley Sundial reflects the area’s distinctive ecology and culture. It feels both ancient and immediate, solid and seasonal. Proudly displaying the work of many hands, it is testament to the collective knowledge, creativity and lived experience that shaped it.

Free to anyone visiting Hellens, just a short walk from the house down to the meadow.  No need to book.

There is no admission charge to Hellens grounds and gardens. Open Wednesdays and Sundays 10.30am to 5pm.

The Sundial Art installation will be situated in the meadow and along a public footpath so can be visited at any time with access via the public footpath rather than through the grounds and gardens if desired.