I suspect that when people think of charcoal they associate it with summer barbecues (weather permitting). When I think of charcoal it reminds me of life drawing classes and the thin twigs of willow charcoal used at college; messy smudges and strangely relaxing. I appreciated the sense of losing yourself in the gentle practice of putting charcoal on paper and the feeling that time seemed to flow more slowly.
Discovering Historic Charcoal Production in the Highwoods
When you are in Bexhill Highwoods and you follow the red route from the car park to red route marker B, there is an area – a barely visible, circular, levelled area in the undergrowth – a nearby noticeboard says this area was used for charcoal burning.
When you look again you can see the ghostly outline of an old landscape beneath the superficial covering of the contemporary woodland. Leaves, brambles and fallen silver birch cover the area but you look again with new eyes.
This was once an industrial workspace where charcoal burners used the resources of the Highwoods to produce charcoal for the local industry – most probably for iron and gunpowder production. The shape of the charcoal burners’ temporary structures which they carefully built and then burnt, planted the seed of an idea.
Creating a Charcoal Clock
We lightly raked the circle removing a small layer of fallen leaves that revealed numerous oak saplings. Deciding to use the remnants of two silver birch trees that uprooted and fell across the space, we cut them to equal lengths and made a circle of the cut sections.
At the moment, there are twelve radial dials – a clock, and a charcoal clock. The lines mark the time that went before when charcoal burners worked the woodland uses the basic shape of a charcoal burning hearth. This shape is the basis of work that will occur here over the next few weeks.
Lines in the Highwoods encourage people using the woodland as a place of leisure and relaxation, to look again at the space around them and rediscover the historical use of this beautiful managed woodland. It explores what you may find if you look again at this landscape the product of a shared cultural tradition.
Would you like to volunteer?
I am looking for volunteers to come and help me make an art trail in the Highwoods. If you have a few hours to spare and would like to spend some time working with me in the Highwoods email me at cliff@cliffcrawfordart.co.uk or follow me on Facebook or Instagram for more information.