an archaeological site investigation:

A surreal and unsettling landscape has grown around the debris of modernism: Ruins melt and merge into new structures and landscapes, and we get this marvellous and energetic juxtaposition occurring, with decay a large part of the whole process. Our activity helped to trace and understand past connections by uncovering and excavating part of the history of the site. We found evidence of an early 20th century Japanese Garden and the group started tracing the extent of this through rough drawings and photographs. Assembled together these documents show origins of the constructed landscape, a landscape that can be made visible again within the debris.

We also uncovered a ‘`Bathtub Madonna’ from around 1820 hidden in the undergrowth, an early example of recycling, the ceramic lined bath was halved, tipped on its side and presumably used as a shrine for 1966 till the last priests left the site.

by Angus Farquhar, March 2012 Workshop Leader