Silence
of Sentinels – Beaumont Fee & Park Street
This
is a hesitant space best experienced from its centre amidst the grove
of magnificent Sycamore and London Plane trees standing quietly
watchful over the long buried dead and a multitude of buried Spring
flower bulbs.
Trees
have deep meaning for us humans - when they're planted without
consideration for the spaces they create, they are as good as dead to
us. The impressive trees here create a tangible space, they uphold an
absence of loudness - buffering traffic noise, echoes from the
surrounding buildings, pedestrians. By standing still you may become
aware of the subtle sounds waiting to be noticed. Listen to the
layers of sound, close by and out to the distance – there's silence
in there.
You
can wander here and go nowhere. Laid down forgotten headstones are
heaved up by living tree roots. There's a sense of being inside - a
leaf-strewn carpet under a high green canopy, dim shaded light. The
trees' whispering leaves and massive dense trunks guard and enclose
the space.
What
birds do you hear today? At one time this was a spring-fed pool and a
favourite place for noisy crows, giving the name to the once nearby
St. Mary Crackpool Church.