Tag Archives: train station

COVENTRY STATION ARTWORK

Part One 1:1 The Visitor – 18th December 2020

I came to Coventry as a visitor … I left it as a friend.

In November 2020 I made a submission via Creative Giants & Coventry City Council for a public art commission to be installed on the architectural glazing of the amazing Grade II listed Coventry Station using digitally printed glazing vinyl. The artwork would be created in response to the Coventry City of Culture 2021 celebrations. What a brilliant thing to be involved with!

Image: Christopher Tipping

I was very excited to make this shortlist – and was then asked to develop some of the draft ideas submitted with the application before the final artist selection was made. On 18th December I sent myself to Coventry, a day return by train from my home in Ramsgate. There was no option, I had to see it for myself.

Coventry Station – first contact 18th December 2020. Image: Christopher Tipping

We may not know it or acknowledge it, but we all store impressions of places we have been. We intuitively know how a place makes us feel. We can learn how to navigate from A – B via landmarks rather than signage. Feeling our way around. Buildings, the curve of a street – the shape of a tree, the colour of a door, sounds and smells, a wobbly flagstone. I have been ‘looking’ at places in this way for thirty years or more. It’s a habit now, unselfconscious & automatic, creatively surveying spaces, unpicking and unravelling.

Coventry Station Terrazzo Concourse. Image: Christopher Tipping

This isn’t an academically critical or formal process, it is an emotional and personal one. You follow your nose. I follow mine. Seeing & feeling the shape, colour and texture of places. Cherry-picking images – a personal choice, but it starts to build an original visual language with which to understand & express for myself what makes a place interesting. I’m not looking for rights and wrongs either. I am simply fascinated by the way places communicate. Authenticity is hard to find. We live in a global and increasingly

I see patterns in everything. I am fascinated by pavement and pathways – I really am! – I see the history trodden into granite kerbs, threshold slabs, door handles. I notice the craft of buildings, no matter how grand or lowly. The hand of a maker. I see how people take pride in their place of work, their home, themselves.

Image: Christopher Tipping
Cauliflowers on display at Coventry Central Market. Image: Christopher Tipping

The celebration of our skills as makers and creators.

I explore on foot. I can’t drive. I seek out what is hidden and forgotten. I see the connections between things past and present. I like the backstreets and the secret places. Curiosity is a sharpened tool of my trade.

The trigger for a project is often a detail, a small thing, something out of the usual. It may be the people, the community who live and work. It is often a combination of several strands coming together, weaving a new narrative – telling a new story. Being a visitor, I will see things differently than if I lived there. Experiences will be novel, bombarded by difference. I will try to connect and talk to people if I can. I cover a s much ground as possible on foot – this way you see the minutiae. I visit archives and museum collections. It is an immersive process. My work is process driven. By that I mean I have to be doing something in order to discover what I am doing, or what I am looking for. I never start with an idea and try to make it. I have a client brief, with a set of parameters outlining desired outcomes. My impressions of places before I visit them or often at odds with the reality of seeing them for myself. I’m like a sponge in these situations, trying to soak up as much as I can. Shaking off what I already think I know about a place is critical. It can be overwhelming having to sift through everything that comes my way – but the things that resonate and stay true and uppermost in my mind eventually begin to coalesce and form the foundation of a start.

What did I know about Coventry? WWII Bombing. The Cathedral. ‘Being sent to …’, Midlands accent, I have visited Coventry previously, it may have been as a student. I have no recall of the Station. We may have come by coach. I do remember the Cathedral, but not in detail. It was probably the reason we came.

WINCHESTER STATION APPROACH – PART 10 – FINAL COMMENTS

This short creative contract to research and develop concept-led proposals for design interpretation and public art for Winchester Station Approaches has now completed.

Winchester Station and approaches 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

This work was intended to inform discussion, dialogue and consultation with regard to the final form and feel for the public realm around Winchester Station. This form of placemaking based upon creative site analysis and creative research , which hopefully results in an original interpretation for the site, is essential to create a space fully responsive to its local environment and client & user aspirations.

Draft concept study for an interpretive public art & public realm to Winchester Station & Station Approaches. Image: Christopher Tipping Artwork superimposed onto LDS plan.
Draft concept study for an interpretive public art & public realm to Winchester Station & Station Approaches. Image: Christopher Tipping
Study with Key to concept & research led creative proposals for interpretation and public art with which to influence the design process for public realm at Winchester Station. Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: This draft study detail of the key to materials, finishes and 3D objects, is a concept only proposal and not intended as a final design. Its description of materials, forms and finishes is subject to further discussion and comment. with a future project team.

Draft concept study for an interpretive public art & public realm to Winchester Station & Station Approaches. Image: Christopher Tipping
Draft concept study for an interpretive public art & public realm to Winchester Station & Station Approaches. Image: Christopher Tipping
Concept & creative interpretation studies for form and shape of seating, public art & interpretation for Winchester Station & Approaches. Image & Artwork by Christopher Tipping

WINCHESTER STATION APPROACH – PART 9 – STONES AS YET UNTURNED & OTHER STREAMS OF INFLUENCE!

On 24th July I came to Winchester to meet Annabelle Boyes (Receiver General) and Catherine Hodgson (Marketing Manager) at Winchester Cathedral.

High Altar of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping

I had requested a meeting as a matter of courtesy, having visited the Cathedral several times previously during my research work for the Winchester Station Approach Project. It was important I met with Annabelle as I wished to discuss the possibility of collaborating with the Cathedral and particularly with the Stonemasons. Not only that, but I wished to know more about the Cathedral’s role in the community – an enormously broad subject, but nonetheless, one that I considered vital to understand the nature of its calling. It was of real interest to me to hear Annabelle talk about the Cathedral as a living place serving not only its faithful and local congregation, but everyone and anyone. A living and breathing building, actively engaging with and remaining vital to a worldwide audience in the 21st Century.

Winchester Cathedral Calling and Vision Publication. Image: Winchester Cathedral.

One outstanding calling is about welcome. In the Cathedra’s Calling and Vision document , emphasis is placed on welcome, access to all, hospitality and pilgrimage. The Cathedral Close is a haven for visitors and locals alike. The Station is also a Gateway to Winchester, so the same ethos ought to be present here in the public realm too, with an emphasis on welcome, and civic hospitality. A place of arrival and departure, a place of safety, a gateway and a welcome.

Marketing Manager Catherine Hodgson, then took me on a walk around the Cathedral and its outbuildings, including a visit to the stonemasons yard. Should the project progress to design stage, then I will certainly be advocating for a cross discipline collaboration with the Cathedral.

Carved stone head support from a 17th Century Memorial. Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
A page taken from ‘ILLUMINATION’, showing an images of the 7th Century Anglo Saxon Alter Base. Development update from Winchester Cathedral ISSUE 17 – April 2019. Image: Winchester Cathedral
The Forecourt of the British Library by Colin St John Wilson 1998. Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: The forecourt (piazza) of The British Library, St Pancras. Colin St John Wilson, 1998. The block seating at the crossing of the pavement grid, resemble the Cathedral’s stone carved or wooden bosses, which appear at the junctions of the stone ribs in the vaulted nave.

Timber carved roof bosses at the junctions of vaulted ribs in Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
Sarsen Stone W17 N in Winchester on the corner of Minster Lane and St Thomas Street. Image: City of Winchester Website
Sarsen Stone W17 D, St John’s Church, St John’s Street, Winchester. Image: City of Winchester Website
Sarsen Stones in Winchester. Image: City of Winchester Website

Sarsen Stones in Winchester’, from the website of The City of Winchester – these sandstone blocks, sought after as ‘markers’, are an inspiration for block seating at Station Approach…see below…

Studies for stone aggregate Roof Boss Benches with laminated stone or terrazzo additions. Image: Christopher Tipping

A number of industries, which Winchester supported, including Watermills, Brewing and Iron Foundries depended upon an immediate and plentiful supply of water. Winchester’s waterways brought wealth to the Cathedral.

Amongst these industries, several stand out as examplers –

Winchester City Mill – one thousand years of history milling corn and the use of Millstones of Basaltic Stone.

Anatomy of a Millstone – General Reference. Image and Source: Wikipedia

Durngate Mill – demolished in 1966 after 700 years on the site.

City Engineering Works and Iron Foundry – Jewell Family of Middle and Lower Brook Street. Amongst other things the made components for the GWR Railways Winchester to Newbury Line. The family were also involved with Durngate Mill and the initials of Philip Charles Jewell appear on much cast iron work in the City.

Iron Founders and Engineers Dean & Smith

Walker & Co, Danemark Works –

Union Workhouse , Oram’s Arbour, Winchester –

Hyde Brewery , Hyde Street, Winchester –

The Waterways of Winchester-part2 – City of Winchester Trust News Spring 1995. Elizabeth Proudman’s first article was published in the Spring 1994 Newsletter. She continues her story. Image: City of Winchester Trust

Above: This section of text by Elizabeth Proudman begins the report into The Waterways of Winchester.

Drawing of the River Itchen as it courses through Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Concept study of the River Itchen as it courses through Winchester against a backdrop of flint. Image: Christopher Tipping
Studies for stone aggregate (terrazzo) benches with inset River Itchen detail. Image: Christopher Tipping
Study for stone aggregate (terrazzo) bench with inset River Itchen detail & laminated contrasting stone end section. Image: Christopher Tipping
Concept study for architectural toughened glass & laminated bench with sandblasted and infilled River Itchen. Image: Christopher Tipping
Study for architectural toughened glass laminated bench with sandblasted and filled River Itchen detail & contrasting aggregate flint end section. Image: Christopher Tipping
Study for architectural toughened glass laminated bench – showing layers exploded – with sandblasted and filled River Itchen detail & contrasting aggregate flint end section. Image: Christopher Tipping
Studies for stone aggregate Bridge Benches with cantilever flint terrazzo addition. Image: Christopher Tipping
Studies for stone aggregate Bridge Benches with cantilever flint terrazzo or timber addition. Image: Christopher Tipping
Studies for stone aggregate column posts or perches with decorative motifs. Image: Christopher Tipping

WINCHESTER STATION APPROACH – PART 8 – A CHANGE OF DIRECTION

At the beginning of August 2019 I was issued with a much simplified plan of the public realm proposals by LDS Architects.

August 2019 Public Realm Plan for Winchester Station Approaches. Image: LDS Architects (cropped & annotated).

Above: This image – a cropped version of the plan drawing issued by LDA, shows the principal public realm and station access roads. The previous concept proposal for the public art benches and interpretation following the radial plan as previously illustrated was no longer viable, but the strong horizontal banding across the station forecourt still provided a viable grid and scaffold upon which to set out my ideas.

I have always been in favour of using sandstone as the principle paving material, as this has history with the city, plus in terms of colour and appearance, seems much more sympathetic to the fabric of the site and its low level & undemonstrative railway architecture, rather than big city, corporate use of granite for public realm.

Sandstone Paving – Public Realm, Francis Crick Institute, London. Image: Christopher Tipping
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Stone paving and ceramic tiles from the interior of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping

We could explore the use of varied sizes of paving slab, within a manageable modular framework. The stone paving in the Cathedral for example, exhibits a wide range of slab size, from a small unit square Purbeck Stone tile – which appears to have been the principle paving material – to the larger and unique Ledger (memorial) Stones in Tournai Marble & other stones.

Concept study proposal for paving and seating within the public realm & approaches of Winchester Station. Artwork: Christopher Tipping
Detailed & annotated concept study proposal for paving and seating within the public realm & approaches of Winchester Station. Artwork: Christopher Tipping

Above: Both images explore the possibilities of embedding interpretive Public Art elements within the revised LDS Public Realm proposal – seating, paving and retaining structures bringing an original and creative interpretation to the site. Working within the proposed LDS scheme, seating could be positioned at intervals along the parallel banding, using these lines as the principal interpretive parameters.

Concept study for a cast Iron paving panel with low relief text. Winchester Station Approaches. Image: Christopher Tipping

The key in the plan above outlines the use of:

Sandstone for main paving of the forecourt –

Cast Iron elements with low relief text and / or motifs set within the parallel banding in the paving & an extra wide kerb detail . There were several Iron Foundries in Winchester, which served the Railways –

Porphyry Paving for the primary parallel banding –

Bespoke Benches or ‘Perches’ –

Possible sandblasted, inlaid or etched surface patterns to the sandstone paving – employing super-graphic motifs inspired by the medieval ceramic tiling within the Cathedral –

Granite, Cast Iron, Cast Concrete or Steel defensive barrier structures which can double as seating or ‘perches’, following the radius curve of the highway. These are modelled on cross sections through stone piers in the Cathedral. –

Draft artworks playing with text, texture and the richness of architectural decoration & materials in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Black & white motif based upon a medieval ceramic inlaid tile at Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
Detail: Concept study proposal for paving and seating within the public realm & approaches of Winchester Station. Artwork: Christopher Tipping
Detail: Concept study proposal for paving and seating within the public realm & approaches of Winchester Station. Artwork: Christopher Tipping
Detail: Plan drawings of Winchester Cathedral taken from ‘The Grid System & Design of the Norman Cathedral’ by Eric Fernie.
Pier Sections: Winchester Cathedral. Detail: Section drawings of Transept & Nave Piers of Winchester Cathedral taken from ‘The Grid System & Design of the Norman Cathedral’ by Eric Fernie.
Pier Section study. Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
Pier Section studies Winchester Cathedral. Winchester Station Approaches Project. Image: Christopher Tipping
Concept & site interpretation studies for seating, barrier structures and public art, based upon pier sections from Winchester Cathedral for Winchester Station Approaches public realm. Image & Artwork by Christopher Tipping
Detail: Concept study proposal for paving and seating within the public realm & approaches of Winchester Station. Artwork: Christopher Tipping
Black & white motif based upon a medieval ceramic inlaid tile at Winchester Cathedral. Used as large scale decoration on a proposal for a monolithic stone bench. Image: Christopher Tipping
A decorative motif based upon a medieval ceramic inlaid tile at Winchester Cathedral. Used as large scale decoration, either inset or sandblasted, on a proposal for a monolithic stone bench. Image: Christopher Tipping

WINCHESTER STATION APPROACH – PART 7 – WELCOME TO WINCHESTER

In June 2019 I was issued with early draft plans for the public realm proposals at the Station by LDS Architects on behalf of Winchester City Council. I proposed to add a layer of creative interpretation to these plans, based on my contextual research and employ the setting out details within the LDS plan as a secure foundation into which I could set my public art concept drafts. My proposal was always going to be about utilising the need for paving, seating, retaining walls and other practical details of public realm highways engineering to keep visual clutter at a minimum. This would also be more economic in terms of budget use and future management and maintenance.

Concept & interpretation draft studies for seating and public art for Winchester Station Approaches. Base detail plan drawing by LDS Architects. Image & Colour Artwork by Christopher Tipping

Above: The Station building is on the left of this plan drawing (as seen from above). The plan for the public realm is primarily a sequence of parallel horizontal bands (green) delineated in the paving, which flow downhill from the Station towards City Road and another series which flow uphill along Station Road. However, this baseline geometry is combined with a radial pattern (also in green) which expresses the radius curve in the highway as it transitions from Station Road to Station Hill. This radial pattern provides the anchor for a series of seats (red) and secondary barrier structures (blue). These are concept ideas only – and not designs.

Concept & interpretation studies for seating and public art for Winchester Station Approaches. Base plan drawing by LDS Architects. Image & Artwork by Christopher Tipping

Above: This concept study shows a series of interrelated structures – which could be seating, walls, barrier structures or paving – set out in a radial pattern. These forms are presented as interpretive devices which exhibit combinations of materials and motifs, which seen together in this way embody ideas and responses developed from the contextual research I have undertaken.

Draft form for seating or paving. Terrazzo with exposed polished flint. Image: Christopher Tipping
The building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Draft forms for seating or paving. Terrazzo with exposed polished flint. Image: Christopher Tipping
Draft forms for seating or paving. Monolithic Stone with laminate stone extensions & inset text or applied pattern. Image: Christopher Tipping
Detail of Illuminated Initial in Gold. Winchester Bible Illumination. Copyright Winchester Cathedral. Image: John Crook

Above: The Winchester Bible is regarded as the largest & finest 12th century Illuminated Manuscript. The script is by the hand of a single monk scribe from Winchester. However, the magnificent illuminations were often drawn and painted by itinerant artists – lay professionals who travelled between monasteries and centres of learning. These Illuminated Initials have been inspirational, as has the Morley Library, of which the Winchester Bible is a part. Bishop George Morley bequeathed his collection of rare books to the Cathedral in the 17th Century. His collection is also monogrammed.

Draft artwork playing with text & the texture and pattern of knapped flint. Image: Christopher Tipping
Draft artwork playing with text as illuminated initials & the texture and pattern of knapped flint. Image: Christopher Tipping
Draft artworks playing with text as illuminated initials & the texture and pattern of Winchester building materials. Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: Polished flint terrazzo circle with inset letter ‘W’ in Swedish Marble with sandblasted detail, resin bonded in white.

Draft artworks playing with text, texture and the richness of architectural decoration in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: Plan study (meaning ‘seen from above’)of a monolithic sandstone bench with a flat seating surface with the inset letter W and Circle motifs in flint aggregate terrazzo. Below: Sandstone & Flint are primary building materials in Winchester.

Sandstone is a primary building stone of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
There is one sample of Swedish Marble in Winchester Cathedral. A Ledger Stone for the daughter of Sir John Clobery. Image: Christopher Tipping

“Of particular interest is the ledger stone (memorial) of Francisca Clobery, the daughter of Sir John Clobery. She died in 1683 and her grave is in the south aisle of the Retrochoir, in front of her father’s monument. It is of a distinctive Ordovician limestone (around 465 million years ago) from the Island of Öland, Sweden, containing the straight-shelled Nautiloid.” from ‘Winchester Stone’ by Dr John Parker 2016. ‘John Parker studied geology at Birmingham and Cambridge universities. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. For over 30 years he worked as an exploration geologist for Shell around the world. He has lived in Winchester since 1987. On retirement he trained to be a Cathedral guide’. John has personally shown me around the Cathedral and pointed out many geologic wonders and quirks.

190507 BENCH laminated 1 Winchester Station Approaches. Christopher Tipping
Draft artworks playing with text, texture and the richness of architectural decoration & materials in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: Studies for objects (seating?) in Timber, Sandstone and Swedish Marble employing techniques of inlay, lamination, polishing and sandblasting.

Draft artworks playing with text, texture and the richness of architectural decoration & materials found in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: Study for two concept benches in monolithic black Tournai Marble with inlaid detail and laminated stone additions of Swedish Marble.

Ledger stone of black Tournai Marble with carving in Winchester Cathedral. Winchester Station Approaches. Christopher Tipping
Detail: Carved figures from the 12th Century Tournai Marble Font. The building materials & memorials of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
Draft artworks playing with text, texture and referencing the richness of architectural decoration & materials in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Draft artworks playing with text, texture and referencing the richness of architectural decoration & materials in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping

I hope to investigate manufacturing processes which allow stone to be cut, laminated, decorated and finished in a manner which embodies the richness of the Cathedral interiors and it’s ongoing repair and regeneration – BUT – in a functional manner, either as seating etc or as a method of improving wayfinding for visitors.

Draft artworks playing with text, texture and referencing the richness of architectural decoration & materials in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Concept & creative interpretation studies for seating and public art for Winchester Station Approaches. Image & Artwork by Christopher Tipping
Concept & creative interpretation studies for seating and public art for Winchester Station Approaches. Image & Artwork by Christopher Tipping

WINCHESTER STATION APPROACH – PART 6 – STATION HILL – A LOCAL HISTORY

Station Hill leads up to Winchester Train Station from the busy junction of Stockbridge Road, City Road, Andover Road and Sussex Street. Swan Lane also joins here. The site has been historically known as Carfax, meaning the meeting of roads. The Carfax Hotel, formerly on the site now occupied by the Hampshire Records Office took its name from this historic site. The Masterplan proposals for this whole site, developed by Winchester City Council’s Consultants Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands Architects, is referred to as the Carfax Site. and incorporates the Station Approaches & public realm.

Winchester Station and environs. Annotated by me to show Streets and Roads. Image: Copyright Google Earth
A page referencing the history and standing of Station Hill and the Train Station taken from the Cultural Heritage Assessment for Station Approach, Winchester, by Elaine Milton, Heritage and Planning. Winchester City Council 2015
Station Hill 1909. Winchester Station Approach project. A local community. Images: Christopher Tipping Collection
Station Hill, Winchester. Winchester Station Approach project. A local community. Image: Copyright:Facebook.com/Oldwinchesterphotos/. Station Hill 1976.
Station Hill, Winchester. Winchester Station Approach project. A local community. Image: geograph – 4303039Photo © Jaggery (cc-by-sa/2.0)

Station Hill today doesn’t give much away about it’s local community or life as a lively neighbourhood, but this wasn’t always the case.

I will try to add to this post throughout the project as new research throws up characters and stories.

A page referencing the history and standing of Station Hill, the Train Station and environs taken from the Cultural Heritage Assessment for Station Approach, Winchester, by Elaine Milton, Heritage and Planning. Winchester City Council 2015
Warren's Street Directory 1890 Ref: H 042.27 Hampshire Archives & Local Studies, Winchester.
Station Hill, Winchester. Warren’s Street Directory 1890 – Ref: H 042.27. Hampshire Archives and Local Studies, Sussex Street, Winchester.

Above: Warren’s Street Directories, held in the Hampshire Records Office on our doorstep, lists street by street, almost everyone who lived at each residential property. If this was a business, then it lists the nature of the business, as well as the people who owned it. A wonderful archive. The books also contain the most interesting advertising for local products and services, mostly & brilliantly illustrated.

Carfax Hotel, Station Hill & Sussex Street, Winchester.Date unknown. Winchester Station Approaches Project. Image: Winchester City Trust.
Description of the Carfax Hotel by Barry Taylor from The Lost Pubs Project. http://www.closedpubs.co.uk/hampshire/winchester_carfaxhotel.html
Hampshire Archives and Local Studies. Sussex Street, Winchester. This building replaced the old Carfax Hotel. Image: Winchester City Council
AUTOWORK , (Winchester)Ltd. Station Hill, Winchester. Date Unknown. Winchester Station Approaches Project. Image: Winchester City Council
Station Hill looking down towards Sussex Street and Swan Lane. Date unknown. Winchester Station Approaches Project. Image: Winchester City Council.
Station Hill, Winchester. 1902 Warren’s Street Directory. Image: Hampshire Archives and Local Studies.
Roger Brown’s Model of Winchester circa 1873. This brilliant model was made in the 1980’s and took 9 years to complete. Image: Christopher Tipping. Copyright: City of Winchester Museum.

The Train Station is seen above in the bottom left quadrant. Roger Brown’s model was based on the OS Map of 1873. Roger had been a Planning Officer for Winchester City Council.

Some key building are still extant , such as the Station and the South Western Inn, formerly the Railway Refreshment Inn – & up until 2015, Winchester Register Office. The Carfax Hotel is visible on the junction of Station Hill & Sussex Street. The terraced houses of Gladstone Street are there too, but the Reservoirs of the Sussex Brewery, seen on the OS Map of 1870 now appear to be allotment gardens. Needs a bit more investigating to discover what the reservoirs were for. I can’t find any reference to the Sussex Brewery.

The original Railway Refreshment Inn opposite the Station, was up until 2015 the Winchester Register Office at No.6 Station Hill. Image: Christopher Tipping
Roger Brown’s Model of Winchester circa 1873. Copyright: City of Winchester Museum.

Above: A bit blurry…but nonetheless the Station and Public House are clearly shown. A narrow footpath leads to Sussex House just beyond the Station in this image. A lovely circular garden feature can also be seen just left of the Station forecourt behind a fence. I wonder if this was a public or private space?

Roger Brown’s Model of Winchester circa 1873. Copyright: City of Winchester Museum.

Above; At centre is the Carfax Hotel building on Station Hill and Sussex Street. This important crossroads, (or Carfax), shows a complex junction of City Road, Swan Lane, Station Hill, Andover Road and Sussex Street. Looking rather genteel – and not the complicated crossing for pedestrians we experience today.

Station Hill, Winchester. 1914 Warren’s Street Directory. Image: Hampshire Archives and Local Studies.
Station Hill, Winchester. 1930 Warren’s Street Directory. Image: Hampshire Archives and Local Studies.
Station Hill, Winchester. 1939 Warren’s Street Directory. Image: Hampshire Archives and Local Studies.

By 1970, the Carfax Hotel, first named in 1918, had fallen into disrepair during the 1960’s. It had been taken over by the King Alfred Teacher Training College as student accommodation. However, it was demolished in 1972 as part of a road improvement scheme.

Station Hill, Winchester. 1970/71 Warren’s Street Directory. Image: Hampshire Archives and Local Studies.

WINCHESTER STATION APPROACH – PART 5 – PATTERNS IN PAVING ?

A short post on patterns of paving, used externally in the City streets. These images are a simple & straightforward record of paving and materials used in highway engineering and the public realm in Winchester. What I am interested in is the variation and the happenstance, which occurs between pattern, materials and textures. The ordinary and mundane, boring ?…no ! Some richness and patterns emerge, often as a result of repair & regeneration. Interesting to note changes at thresholds and edges. Old and new side by side. They are perhaps not the most exciting of images – but for those of you who look down to see & care about what you are walking on – you too may also see something that inspires you, as I have been inspired.

Winchester Station. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Winchester Station. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Winchester Station. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Winchester Station. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Winchester Station Approach project. Station Hill. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Outside Winchester Museum. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. High Street. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in the streets of Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe

…and finally – all roads lead to the Cathedral.

Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe

winchester station approach – Part 4 – Materials, ABSTRACTION & PATTERNS

The image above is a detail of the beautifully carved ebony black polished stone 12th Century font, with its depiction of the miracles of St Nicholas. It is without doubt one of the Cathedral’s greatest treasures. It was brought from Tournai, in modern day Belgium. It has been in use ever since. It is astonishingly fresh and wonderful.

The building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping

It isn’t too hard to find odd and quirky combinations of both mundane & exotic materials and examples of spectacular & naive decorative arts and crafts side by side in Winchester, especially in the Cathedral. Almost one thousand years of continual occupation of this religious site bears witness to an unbroken architectural legacy, one that is brimful of odd juxtapositions, exotic materials, renewed or replaced fabric, scratched graffiti, vandalism and destruction. Like walking through a time-warp. Robust Norman Romanesque Architecture to Perpendicular Gothic in one step. Swedish Marble to Purbeck Stone in another. Extant 13th Century inlaid ceramic floor tiles to 1960’s replicas. Striking thresholds crossed mixing time and material, yet the experience is not jarring or disjointed. Time itself has softened these transitions and blurred the edges.

I am continually cherry picking from the world around me, plucking at things, tucking things away for later – like a squirrel, gathering nuts for winter or in the manner of a herbivore, continually grazing, & chewing the cud. I am gathering visual information – an extraordinary cabinet of curiosity in my mind. Certain things catch my attention, whilst others pass me by. This eclectic meander is not a considered or deliberate creative manoeuvre. It is innate. It is my pattern of speech, it is my handwriting. It simply is.

A mash-up of the decorative building materials of Winchester & my own patterns. Image: Christopher Tipping

SANDSTONE – FLINT – LIMESTONE – EBONY BLACK TOURNAI MARBLE – HAND MADE BRICK – OAK TIMBERS – INLAID CERAMIC TILES – MONOLITHIC GRANITE – CAST IRON – GUN METAL – CARVED OAK – STAINED GLASS – WINDOW TRACERY – LEAD

The building materials & memorials of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
An abstract mash-up of the decorative building materials & styles of Winchester mixed with my own ‘Winchester inspired’ patterns. Image: Christopher Tipping
The building materials & memorials of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
The building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
The building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Abstract drawings based on knapped flints, one of the building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Abstract drawings based on knapped flints, one of the building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
A mash-up of the decorative building materials of Winchester & my own patterns. Image: Christopher Tipping
The building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
The building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
An abstract mash-up of the decorative building materials & styles of Winchester mixed with my own ‘Winchester inspired’ patterns. Image: Christopher Tipping
A mash-up of the decorative building materials of Winchester & my own patterns. Image: Christopher Tipping

WINCHESTER STATION APPROACH – PART 3 – Lessons from history

WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL

Winchester Cathedral Great West Window and Lierne Vaulted nave. Image: Christopher Tipping

Have you ever thought what is up there, caught between the vaulted ceiling and the external roof? It was this hidden void in the attic, described as ‘a forest‘ , which so disastrously burned at Notre Dame in April this year. On Wednesday 19th June this year I ventured up the Tower of Winchester Cathedral to reach the same space. I have really wanted to venture into this cavernous space – between the 14th & 15th Century vaulted nave we see in the image above and the original massive timbered roof for years. This complex structure is what pilgrims and locals would have seen & looked up into prior to the nave being constructed. It is the most amazing floating world – a dark void – a medieval secret.

Massive Oak timbers in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Massive Oak timbers in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: This is the timber walkway inside the void space, which sits atop the massive oak beams which cross the nave . The walkway disappears into the bell tower and Norman part of the Cathedral. Images do not do this space justice! This is the longest Medieval Cathedral nave in Europe. The Lierne Vaulted ceiling of the nave lies just below the cross beam timbers.

Massive Oak timbers in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Human touches in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral. There is a story to this image, but I have forgotten it ! Image: Christopher Tipping
Human touches – centuries of scratched graffiti decorate the stone window tracery in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
Human touches – centuries of scratched graffiti decorate the stone window tracery in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
It got in but didn’t get out. Racing Pigeon in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
Massive Oak timbers in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
The bell ringing chamber of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Details in the bell ringing chamber of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Details in the bell ringing chamber of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping

‘The cathedral possesses the only diatonic ring of fourteen church bells in the world. The back twelve were all cast by John Taylor & Co in 1937. They were augmented to fourteen when two new bells were added in 1992 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. ‘One bell was cast by Anthony Bond, an itinerant Founder in 1621.’ Wikipedia Ref

Up in the Bell Tower of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Up in the Bell Tower of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Up in the Bell Tower of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Up in the Bell Tower of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: This image shows Norman stone carving high up in the Bell Tower. Quite amazing to get so close to it. The stonemason’s tool marks so fresh still.

Interesting patches and and repairs to the lead sheeting up on the roof of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Up on the roof – the views are pretty spectacular. Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping

WINCHESTER STATION APPROACH – PART 2 – June 2019

These sketches and studies below are part of a series of early drafts and drawings, which were completed in June this year. They were derived from contextual research and concept design development for the generation of the interpretive public art elements at Winchester Station. Several versions of this initial research have been submitted for discussion and comment.

Draft concept visuals for Winchester Station Approaches. Images: Christopher Tipping
Draft concept visuals for Winchester Station Approaches. Images: Christopher Tipping
Plan view of the Station approaches. Image: Christopher Tipping

These early drafts considered an ‘all-over’ repeating pattern for natural sandstone paving, influenced by the Cathedral’s extant 13th Century medieval inlaid ceramic floor tiles – and used here as a super-graphic motif. At this time I was not responding to any masterplan proposals from the client’s Architects and Urban Planners LDS – as these had not yet been circulated for discussion. The ideas were formulated in response to my own research in the city and now form the foundations of my project approach.

Concept drafts for repeat pattern paving influenced by the Cathedral Medieval Tiled floors. Image: Christopher Tipping
Concept drafts for repeat pattern paving influenced by the Cathedral Medieval Tiled floors & built environment. Image: Christopher Tipping
A page from my research document June 12th 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

The building stones of Winchester are hugely influential when looking at the interpretation of place and the significance of the Station as a gateway to the City. Although granite has been used here, local sandstones and limestones with flint and brick dominate.

The low lying architectural scale and presentation of the Station buildings, warrant a softer frame with regard to paving. Sandstone fits this bill. Granite being perhaps too corporate and ubiquitous for this site.

A page from my research document June 12th 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping









A page from my research document June 12th 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping









A page from my research document June 12th 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping
A page from my research document June 12th 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping
A page from my research document June 12th 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping
A page from my research document June 12th 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

The City has a strong tradition of procession and pilgrimage, which reinforces notions of way finding and direction, arrival and departure, as well as the physical experience of walking and the materials you are walking upon.