The Highwoods is a canvas onto which I want to lay a story – Lines in the Highwoods. The woodland is the medium I use and our relationship with the woodland is the story I seek to tell. This story is visible in the shape of the trees, the lay of the land from which they grow and the quality of the biomass gathering beneath them. This story is a re-presentation of the reality of the woodland. The Art Trail can be missed, but when you find it, for a moment, you glimpse it side-by-side.
Coppicing Woodland
In `Woodland Craft’ Ben Law describes coppicing as “the term used to describe the successional cutting of broadleaf woodland during the dormant winter period. In spring, when the sap rises, the stump (known as the stool) sends up new shoots, which are grown on for a number of years until they reach the desired size. They are then cut again during winter and the process repeats itself. The wood cut from the coppice is known as the underwood and has for centuries supplied a number of products and supported a large workforce, from the cutter to coppice merchant and craftsman to purchaser.” (Ben Law, Woodland Craft. Pub 2015 Guild of Master Craftsman Publications Ltd, page 15)
There is a lot of evidence of coppicing in the Highwoods. As you walk through the woodland you may notice a tree with many trunks (or poles); it is most likely Oak and Sweet Chestnut or even Hornbeam, if you look carefully. This woodland was an industrial site, a place of production and commerce. People worked here.
The Woodlanders
Certain places are meaningful about the past and the Art Trail highlights several sites within the woodland to tell the story of the people who worked, lived and laughed there.
Coppiced Oak Dance
This shows six figures gathered beneath a coppiced oak consisting of 6 trunks. This recognises the groups of people who worked in this woodland, their shared labour and celebration of achievement.
The Underdog
In the Highwoods is a sunken area that would go unnoticed if it wasn’t for the information board pinned to a nearby tree. It was the site of a saw pit. Here two people would work together to saw planks of wood harvested from the coppiced trees. The people who worked here were known as the Top Dog and the Underdog. I have added The Underdog to the saw pit. His associate may arrive later.
A Sweet Chestnut Coppice
Near the Saw Pit, there is a group of Sweet Chestnut trees. You can tell from the size of the base trunk that these trees have been cropped many times to give poles, most typically for fencing or Sussex Trugs. The figures are positioned on the coppiced trunks within the Sweet Chestnut sharing a glimpsed memory of their presence in the woodland with the people passing by.
The Importance of Maintaining a Coppiced Woodland
“Coppicing creates a cyclical habitat and a unique ecosystem, and is one of the few patterns of symbiosis known in nature where humans are an important part of the relationship … when it is cut sunlight pours in, dormant seeds waiting for light emerge and different birds, animals and insect life move into the newly created habitat. Many rare species such as dormice and many types of butterflies are dependent upon the coppicing system … Coppicing is currently undergoing a revival and its value as an important landscape feature for social, ecological and commercial value is at last being seen.” (Ben Law, Woodland Craft)
Lines in the Highwoods is being built with the help of local volunteers giving their time and enthusiasm to the project. Thank you to all of you. If you want to take part, check my Facebook and Instagram accounts for dates and times.
Lines in the Highwoods is part of the Coastal Currents Festival during September and October 2024.
