Tuesday 5th July – Monday 5th September
A large-scale, hand-knitted version of St Mary & St Nicolas, Spalding will go on display in the church next month alongside woolly versions of three other Lincolnshire churches.
The hand-crafted version of St Mary & St Nicolas, which was knitted by a local group who meet monthly at Unique Cottage Studios near Spalding, is part of the artsNK initiated Woolly Spires project. Completed in 2012, the historic Spalding parish church was one of the first to be created as part of this long-term project. Also on display will be St Denys’, Sleaford; St Botolph’s Church, Boston (The Boston Stump) and St James’, Louth. A woolly version of St Wulfram’s, Grantham and St Mary’s, Stow which are due to be completed later this year will complete the project (although a knitted Lincoln Cathedral is a future possibility!)
Woolly Spires takes its inspiration from the fact that many of Lincolnshire’s churches were funded by wealthy landowners who made their fortune on the backs of the county’s iconic breed of sheep the Lincolnshire Long Wool. artsNK have worked with local knitting groups, across Lincolnshire, supporting them to create amazingly detailed woollen versions of their churches which are knitted over a scaled down model. The exhibition in Spalding is also being supported and promoted by Transported (www.transported.org) as part of its commitment in the area to working with voluntary arts groups and promoting arts activities and exhibitions in Boston & South Holland.
Marion Sander, artsNK Visual Arts Development Co-ordinator said:
“The ‘Woolly Spires’ of Lincolnshire are the most wonderful tactile creations and absolutely loved by young and old. This is a fantastic community art project marrying traditional crafts with local history. This exhibition provides a great opportunity to see all the churches completed so far together, as well as see the model of St Marys & St Nicolas in situ, giving a chance to admire the amount of detail the knitters have managed to capture of the actual church! We have had great feedback from visitors seeing the knitted churches so far and encourage people to go along and have a look.”
The first weekend of the exhibition has been organised to coincide with Spalding Festival of food and drink, which takes place in the Vista Community Hall and surrounding area on the 9th and 10th of July.
artsNK are currently organising an exhibition of the full set of completed Woolly Spires, with one church per district, to be displayed at Lincoln Cathedral during August 2017.
For more information about Woolly Spires visit www.artsnk.org or https://www.facebook.com/woollyspires
For church opening times and directions please visit www.stmaryandstnicolas.org.uk
‘Woolly Spires’ – Knitted Churches of Lincolnshire is an artsNK outreach project commissioned by The Collection in Lincoln. The project is funded by Arts Council England.
For more information or images contact Charlotte Pedley, email: Charlotte.Pedley@litc.org.uk T: 07766422663
