Offering glorious views of the Purbeck coastline in the distance, the Seaside Garden at Flaghead Chine, near Sandbanks, was officially opened in July.
Designer Barbara Uphoff and project officer Reuben Hawkwood from Poole Borough Council were tasked with designing a space to connect the wooded chine with the beach and provide a meeting point and place for quiet play for families at the site of four large new beach huts.
Suttle Purbeck Stone provided several types of Purbeck beds for use in the project, including Cap for the large sawn benches, which have a smooth, almost marble finish (one features a handwritten logo for Flaghead Chine etched into the side), and Button and Laper for the landscaping and edging stone.
Artist Phil Bews and wife Diane Gorvin initially created maquettes – scale models in plaster – before setting about producing the full-sized carved stone sculptures present in the garden, which include elegant seashells and a sea urchin design which can be used as seating Local plants were used throughout including thistle, sea kale, agapanthus, rosemary, and marram grasses.
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