This week I took the kids to visit the new Sculpture Trail in Kingston, Surrey. The new trail comprises of seven new contemporary sculptures, which you can see alongside seven existing sculptures in Kingston.
The Kingston Sculpture Trail was the inspiration of Kingston First, in collaboration with Kingston university, Kingston Council and Canbury Community Trust. The sculptures have been chosen from a selection of over 40 entrants by a panel led by international artist David Mach.
New sculptures in Kingston
We started the Kingston Sculpture Trail by the River Thames near Canbury Gardens. This is just 10 minutes’ walk from Kingston Bridge. However, the sculpture trail is a circular route, so it doesn’t really matter where you start, and you can dip in as you please.
The seven new sculptures in Kingston are:
- Kingston Spinning Sculpture by Roger Clarke MRSS
- Time and Tide by Marigold Hodgkinson FRSS
- The Juggernaut of Nought by Richard Trupp MRSS
- The Kiss by Alex R T Davies
- Party Animal by Alex R T Davies
- Mountain by Stefan Jovanović and Jack Hardy –
- AANGEL – David Begbie MRSS
The first three pieces of art by the river are easy to spot and many passers-by were enjoying them as they walked past.
The brightly coloured Kingston Spinning Sculpture was a big hit with the kids, as it’s a larger-than-life spinning top, which really spins!
My personal favourite, Time and Tide is on the riverside path just before you reach Kingston Bridge. This is a stylish piece which changes constantly with the light and movement from the wind. The children loved looking at the distorted reflections in the curved steel.
Leaving the riverside, we headed to the Market Square to look for the remaining four sculptures. Make sure you take the alley between Cote brasserie and the Bishop’s Pub, as here we unexpectedly stumbled across a large video installation by Mat Collishaw.
Mat Collishaw’sEcholocation is 11-metres long and showcases over 1000 years of local history. Watch out for the bats!
In the market places are two bronze pieces by Alex R T Davies MRSS. Both include traffic cones in the art work. One is of two traffic cones kissing and the other is a charming goat, which kids can sit on.
We stopped for a coffee in the market place, before heading up the other end of town for some of Kingston’s existing sculptures. On the way past the Memorial Gardens and in Clarence Street you can see the remaining new artworks, AANGEL and Mountain.
Existing art in Kingston
Most of the existing sculptures in Kingston are at the other side of town, near Old London Road, so we headed up there.
The most famous artwork is Kingston’s unique tumbling telephone boxes. David Mach’s Out of Order is an iconic landmark and a must-visit for any first-time visitors to Kingston.
The row of 12 red phone boxes is a popular photo spot for tourists. The sculpture was installed in Kingston in 1989, but is still looking good after recent restoration work.
Click here to download a printable map of the sculpture trail
Eventually, at the end of 3 months, a panel of judges will choose their favourite sculpture to remain in Kingston.
We enjoyed seeing the artwork, but the trail was shorter than I’d expected and didn’t really take long. However, it’s definitely worth seeing if you are an art-lover or live locally.
How to get to Kingston
Kingston is on the River Thames in Greater London, near Richmond and Wimbledon. It is easy to get there by car on the M3/A316.
There is a train station in Kingston, with regular trains to London Waterloo. It only takes 30 minutes by train.
Have you seen the new Sculpture Trail in Kingston? Which was your favourite?
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