Northumberlandia

Northumberlandia under construction in August 2011

Northumberlandia (the "Goddess of the North") is a huge land sculpture in the shape of a reclining female figure, which is under construction (as of August 2011^[update]) near Cramlington, Northumberland, northern England.

Made of 1.5 million tonnes of earth, it will be 34 metres (112 feet) high and 400 metres (1,300 feet) long and will be set in a 19 hectares (47 acres) public park. It is thought that it will be the largest land sculpture in human form in the world. It is intended to be a major tourist attraction, hopefully bringing an additional 200,000 visitors a year to Northumberland, and is due to open for public access in 2013.^[1]

It has somewhat unkindly been nicknamed "Slag Alice" by some.^[2]

Development

The designer is landscape architect Charles Jencks, an American who lives in Scotland.^[3]

The sculpture is being built on the Blagdon Estate, owned by Viscount Ridley, whose brother Nicholas was a government minister, and whose son Matt is a journalist, writer (e.g. The Red Queen), and businessman.^[2]

The £2.5m cost will be borne by the Blagdon Estate and the Banks Group, who will carry out the construction work. The construction is part of the development of an adjacent open-cast coal mine at Shotton. At the end of most Northumberland open-cast operations the land is restored to agriculture, but on this occasion it was decided to use some of the excavated material to make a dramatic aesthetic statement.

See also

• Blagdon Estate
• Banks Group
• Banks Group – Northumberlandia
• Banks Group – Shotton
• Charles Jencks

References

1. ^ "Work begins on 'Goddess of the North' in Northumberland". BBC News website. 8 April 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/8608779.stm. Retrieved 21 August 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "'Slag Alice' is set to rival Angel of the North". Mail Online website. 22 May 2011. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389661/Sleeping-Slag-Alice-built-coal-pit-set-rival-Angel-North.html. Retrieved 21 August 2011. 
3. ^ Gilbert, Jonathan (17 June 2011). "Coming to the UK -- a half-mile long woman's body". Reuters website. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/17/oukoe-uk-britain-sculpture-idUKTRE75G23N20110617?feedType=nl&feedName=ukoddlyenough. Retrieved 21 August 2011. 

Coordinates: 55°5′18.2″N 1°37′41.1″W / 55.088389°N 1.628083°W / 55.088389; -1.628083