Music Meditation @ Wentworth Castle Gardens

 

Back in June we launched our 2024 Green UPLIFT programme and told you about our exciting plans for our involvement in the Union Jack community Garden project at Wentworth Castle Gardens. Fast forward to December and we're proud to share the fruits of our labour with you. 

The Union Jack Garden at the National Trust's Wentworth Castle Gardens is a restoration project which saw Creative Recovery being offered a small section of the geometric, Union Jack Garden that was first planted in 1713. Our vision for the garden was to create something that represents our community, to create a space to rest in nature and to inspire the garden’s visitors to look up to the sky. Our plans for this vision also included the creation of a nature meditation, a ‘sound piece to soothe the soul’.

Speaking about the inspiration for the garden, lead artist, Helen Boutle says:

‘‘Creative Recovery’s section is inspired by the wildness of nature and the freedom the mind can experience when ‘nature immersed’. Just to sit and leave your cares behind and watch nature doing it’s thing.’’

 Work on this began in August with UPLIFTER’s regularly attending the plot over the coming months to clear unwanted plants, and plant according to our scheme. With hard work comes progress, and thanks to everyone’s efforts we have managed to clear some of the mock orange which once grown back will be trained into an arch, pathways have also been put in and a stumpery is now in place. The garden is looking really beautiful, it will grow back with wildflowers and be more of a wilderness, which will attract little beasties in the Spring.  

Also complete is the soundscape for the garden. We were delighted to work with musician Nick Lewis who worked with a group of people over 6 weeks in a music meditation course funded by Barnsley Council public health. Together the group identified characteristics and features within the garden that they wanted to incorporate in the sound scape and workshopped ideas, words and music to design the piece. Sessions were also held at the plot to record sounds from the garden including the rustling of leaves, the footsteps of visitors, trees blowing in wind and the sound of birds. 

Nick has expertly edited these with music to create a very special sound journey to accompany your moment of calm in the garden, which is accessible for those visiting via a QR code on site.

You can also listen here: 'Nature- Nurture' Sound Journey. For Wentworth Castle Gardens.

On the 25^th November we proudly celebrated the launch of the garden and sound journey with a special 
group whose voices, music and words have come together to create something very beautiful and very special. We were blessed with blue skies and shared food and magical moments together in this wonderful space. Helen states:

“We have loved working with musician, Nick Lewis, who’s skill of weaving together so many ideas and talents, alongside the recordings, is actually incredible. 

It’s been a wonderful project, with so many of the people involved getting so much out of it.”