SHEILS FLYNN
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

DOWNHAM MARKET CARVED WALL

SPILSBY CARVED WALL

This spiral of text welcomes visitors to Spilsby and lifts their spirits. Making Marks was asked to create a carved wall with the involvement of the local school.

We ran workshops to come up with the text and followed this by exploring designs to express it, with the spiral arising from this process. The spiral is the ideal choice of design, since it captures the text well and reflects the circular elements of the regenerated market square design.

As the final phase of this regeneration, the wall was already in place - so the design had to be carved on site. This created an energy, interest in and respect for the piece. Having the local community watch the process emphasised the focus of the regeneration, which aimed to rejuvenate the natural meeting point of people, cars and buses. The message of the wall was spread throughout the community as people passed through the market place on their journeys.

A testament to the success of the project is that there is no graffiti on the piece several years on.