Walk the Sailors Path from Snape to Aldeburgh and discover one
artist’s response to the landscape past, present and future.
A series of temporary sculptures by artist
Jonathan Keep
(new window) draws on the archaeology of the rivers Alde and
Ore, looking at changing lives and landscapes from Neolithic times
to 2048.
In the process of developing the works, local people explored
the river. Children learnt about this changing landscape through
uncovering man’s relationship with the river over 6,000 years. They
then worked with the artist to understand how materials of the
river were used in the past, created the materials for one of the
works (Crossed Paths - Salt and Earth) and helped to install
it.
The Sailors Path
The start of the Sailors Path from Snape to Aldeburgh is at
Snape Warren car park, Priory Road, Snape (Landranger TM401583).
The path is approximately 8km long and finishes at the car park on
Saxmundham Road, Aldeburgh. Look out for the listening post on the
path, where you can hear
recorded memories of the river.
The Sailors Path Sculptures
Follow this link for
help with
downloading and opening PDF files.
Crossed Paths - Salt and Earth.
This
landscape drawing across Snape Warren is a fictional representation
of the route from the ancient salt works opposite Iken Point to the
Anglo-Saxon burial grounds at Snape Common. Children at local
schools helped make the ‘briquetage’ cones - low fired red clay
vessels used when evaporating saline water over a fire to get salt.
Once installed the work will be left to deteriorate into the
landscape, as has the ancient salt workings activities.
High Water Mark 2048.
Split either side of
the boardwalk, this sculpture takes on the footprint of the ancient
ship burial excavated at Snape. The choice of willow sticks as a
material derives from the use of withies as markers of the
navigable channel in the Alde estuary. This location was also
chosen because the horizontal band of plastic pull ties represent a
future potential high water mark at this site.
Neolithic, Bronze, Iron, Romano,
Saxon.
The forested section of Sailors Path has
intriguing theatrical spaces dappled with pools of light. To
heighten this experience, stacked terracotta figurative forms,
referencing the pottery from Neolithic times to Anglo Saxon pre
glazed wares, stand alone alongside the path. Reminding us of the
generations that have passed through the forest the ‘stacks’ of
pots are as they would be found in archaeological excavations, with
the oldest at the bottom to the more recent at the top.
Who is behind the project
Ebb and Flow is a partnership between Suffolk Coastal and
the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Unit (new window).
The project is funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, Natural England,
Suffolk Coastal District Council, Suffolk Coast and Heaths Unit,
the AONB Sustainable Development Fund and the Aldeburgh and
District Local History Society.