Words in the Landscape

Cranborne Chase Chase and Chalke Heritage Fund

Words in the Landscape banner

Bringing together readers, writers, poets and tellers of tales to celebrate the written and spoken word, and to connect people to the landscape.

The project engaged hundreds of local people of all ages in a variety of activities, from creative writing workshops, commissioned work and community outreach to live events.

The project culminated in the Festival of Words – a celebration of the work that emerged from the project.

 

Project aims

  • To capture poetry and words composed by members of the public made in response to the landscape.
  • To celebrate the written word through poetry and writing workshops and readings.
  • To work with poets and writers to create new written works inspired by Cranborne Chase and the written word.

Project achievements

Poetry Boxes

  • Over the summers of 2021 and 2022, Poetry Boxes were placed in locations accessible by local communities and visitors across the Chase and Chalke Landscape Area. They contained cards and pencils, so that people could jot down rhymes, words, poems, reflections that the landscape inspired in them.
 icon-book 145 submissions gathered from the Poetry Boxes

Poet Residency – Cherish

  • Akulah Agbami joined the team as Community Poet.
  • Akulah’s residency was called Cherish, which invited and instigated parallels between our care and understanding of the natural environment and our care and understanding of ourselves.
  • Cherish took part over a series of workshops with community groups and members of the public, both out in the landscape and via online workshops.
 icon-book 5 new works created by Akulah inspired by the lives of five of the abbesses of Shaftesbury Abbey
 icon-book 89 pieces of new work created by Cherish workshop participants

Creative Writing Competition

  • Creative Writing competition launched in 2023, aiming to connect local people and visitors to our landscape, our heritage, and our communities.
  • Entrants were asked to respond to the theme of ‘A Sense of Place: Cranborne Chase’ and explore the landscape, landmarks, countryside, features, village, towns, and people of Cranborne Chase, past and present, as their inspiration.
  • Many of the pieces generously shared with us were printed and framed for an exhibition in the corridors of Salisbury District Hospital in March and April 2024, arranged by ArtCare.
  • Some have also been shown in exhibitions for the Celebrate Chase and Chalke event in July 2024 at Larmer Tree Gardens, and at the Curious Dorset Cursus weekend event in September 2024.
  • Work will continue to be shared at exhibitions and in publications by Chase and Chalke and Cranborne Chase National Landscape.
  • Writers continue to send us their words, observations and emotions connected to Cranborne Chase. We hugely value this!
 icon-book 80 submissions

Festival of Words

  • Hosted the Festival of Words at the Ancient Technology Centre in Cranborne in October 2023. This festival was created to connect people to the landscape through written and spoken word.
  • Featured a plethora of activities with poets and storytellers, workshops, treasure hunt, poetry on demand, and a showcase of entries from the Creative Writing Competition.
  • Showcased commissioned work from various artists and performers in the Earth House.
 icon-book 259 people participated in the Festival of Words

Get Involved with the Words in the Landscape Project