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Turning Forms

1950 sculpturesAbstract sculptureBuildings and structures in St AlbansConcrete sculpturesFestival of Britain
Modernist sculptureSculptures by Barbara Hepworth

Turning Forms (BH 166) is a concrete sculpture by Barbara Hepworth, one of her first public commissions, made in 1950 for the Festival of Britain. It was one of two Hepworth commissions for the Festival: the other was a sculpture of abstract standing figures, Contrapuntal Forms, now in Harlow. Turning Forms has been sited at a school in St Albans since 1953. Both of Hepworth's sculptures were listed at Grade II in 1998. Like most sculptures for the Festival of Britain, Contrapuntal Forms was commissioned by the Arts Council, but unusually Turning Forms was commissioned and paid for directly by the Festival board, at the instigation of the architect Jane Drew, to complement her design for the Thameside Restaurant. Hepworth made the sculpture in collaboration with Drew, unusually adopting a Constructivist style reminiscent of the work of Naum Gabo, such as his later kinetic sculpture Revolving Torsion. Hepworth returned to a similar theme with a similarly-named drawing in 1957, held by Kettle's Yard in Cambridge. Turning Firms is an abstract work which stands 84 inches (210 cm) high. It comprises twisting loops of concrete, painted white, supported by a metal armature. The armature was fabricated in Plymouth and coated with a lightweight core of vermiculite then finished with layers of concrete added and shaped by Hepworth at her studio in St Ives. The surface finish is a white "Snowcrete" Portland cement, covered with a layer of white "Snowcem" masonry paint, both products from Blue Circle. The sculpture was exhibited outside the Thameside Restaurant at the Festival of Britain in 1951, near Waterloo Bridge, mounted a motorised plinth that slowly completed a rotation in two minutes. The sculpture was acquired by Hertfordshire County Council: at the time, the Council had embarked on an ambitious programme to build new schools, and acquired artworks to decorate them: for example, a cast of Henry Moore's Family Group is on display at Barclay Academy in Stevenage. Hepworth's sculpture has been sited at St Julian's School, now The Marlborough Science Academy, in St Albans since its opening in 1953. It was removed temporarily for conservation in October 2000, and then exhibited at the Hepworth Wakefield from May to November 2021 alongside Contrapuntal Forms for the first time since 1951, before returning to the school.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Turning Forms (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Turning Forms
Watling Street, St Albans St Stephens

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N 51.739 ° E -0.34901 °
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Marlborough School

Watling Street
AL1 2QA St Albans, St Stephens
England, United Kingdom
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Verulamium Park
Verulamium Park

Verulamium Park is a park in St Albans, Hertfordshire. Set in over 100 acres (0.40 km2) of parkland, Verulamium Park was purchased from the Earl of Verulam in 1929 by the then City Corporation. Today the park is owned and operated by St Albans City and District Council. The park is named after the Roman city of Verulamium on which it stands. The city walls and outline of the main London Gate can still be seen. Archaeological excavations were undertaken in the park during the 1930s by Sir Mortimer Wheeler and his wife Tessa, during which the 1800-year-old hypocaust and its covering mosaic floor were discovered. The Hypocaust Mosaic is on view to the public and currently protected from the elements by a purpose-built building in the park. On the outskirts of the park is Verulamium Museum, which contains hundreds of archaeological objects relating to everyday Roman life in what was a major Roman city. A pub, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, is also located on the edge of the park. This pub has been listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest such establishment in England. A main feature of the park is the ornamental lake. Construction started on this project during 1929, giving much needed work to the unemployed of St Albans during the depression. The lake is fed by the River Ver. The lake is home to a wealth of waterbirds, including mallards, swans, Canada geese, herons, great crested grebes, coots, pochards and tufted ducks. In the southeastern part of the park, the Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre and Abbey View 9-hole golf course provide a number of sports facilities, including a pool, gym, tennis, fitness classes, running track and football pitch. The park also hosts St Albans parkrun, a free weekly timed 5k event every Saturday morning at 9am. The northeastern edge of the park abuts St Albans Cathedral and St Albans School, the northwestern edge abuts St Michael's Church, and the southeastern edge abuts St Columba's College. St Albans Abbey railway station is situated just to the east of the park. The park also hosts a small children's funfair which has been coming there for 46 years. That comes around Easter with the Sun and the summer holidays. It is situated near the hypocaust.