Cromer’s Prospect Launched
Cromer Prospect, the North Norfolk seaside town’s exciting new £200,000 public art scheme has been launched. The scheme is supported by £152,000 Lottery funding through Arts Council England, East (Text dated 2005). This article is provided by kind permission of North Norfolk District Council and the Cromer Regeneration Partnership.

The public art scheme is part of a larger seafront enhancement project, contributing to the wider regeneration of the Cromer area, developed by North Norfolk District Council and the Cromer Regeneration Partnership.

Cromer Prospect, which has been managed by Commissions East on behalf of North Norfolk District Council, is a series of art installations that celebrate 200 years of Cromer’s lifeboats, featuring atmospheric lighting that brings the seafront alive at night.

David Ward, Cromer Prospect lead artist, has worked with many people on a permanent installation that celebrates the town’s principal lifeboats set in Cromer Pier’s forecourt. Twenty-four granite stones, each one representing a lifeboat, have been set along lines looking out to sea, pointing in the direction of rescue missions. The scheme has been developed by Landscape Designer, Shaun Ruffles.

A great compass is at the heart of the forecourt display. The lines radiate out to sea from the compass through the granite ‘standing stones’. The design is based on the compass in the HF Bailey lifeboat, which can be seen in Cromer’s RNLI museum.

The names of each lifeboat, ship rescue, date of the rescue and the numbers of lives saved, have been cut and inlaid into granite lines stretching from the compass to the standing stones. Ray Carpenter has designed the unique typeface for the lettering.

Cromer Prospect is transformed at night with atmospheric lighting. Each 'standing stone’ is uplit with star-like lights. This acts as a reminder of the beacon that burned on the corner of Cromer Church tower before the first lighthouse was built. A golden light will also shine on the church tower to represent the beacon later this year.

The flint walls on the Victorian bastion above the pier have been uplit with occasional washes of light using soft colours, creating a lighting effect reminiscent of natural light effects and of watercolour paintings. The lighting has been developed by Cambridgeshire lighting designer Chris Baldwin.

Councillor Hilary Nelson, North Norfolk District Council Cabinet Member for Tourism, Arts and Built Heritage said: "Congratulations to all those involved in Cromer Prospect. It is a brave, evocative and inspirational enhancement to Cromer Sea Front. Residents and visitors alike will be proud of this celebration of our sea faring history today and for years to come."

Councillor Tony Nash, Mayor of Cromer said: "The Cromer Prospect is yet another feather in the cap of those numerous people who have led the regeneration of Cromer over these past three years. The whole concept of bringing the best of Cromer's past into the present for the future is a phenomenal idea which will bring interest to visitors and locals alike. All the difficulties so far encountered have proved insignificant in the wake of what we, as a community, are able to enjoy in the future. Already comments from members of the public from home and afar are very positive and bode well for the future."

Cromer inspired some of the UK’s greatest 19th century literary figures including Oscar Wilde, Elizabeth Gaskell and the poet AC Swinburne. To celebrate this link, their quotations about the area have been immortalised in stone rings on the seafront and in the town centre. The quotes have been cut and inlaid using Ray Carpenter’s special Cromer Prospect typeface.

A new RNLI museum, with restaurant, cliff lift and toilets is currently under construction on the site of the ‘Rocket House’, to the east of the pier. The museum will feature ceramic panels created by local artist, Stephen Parry. These ceramic works were also commissioned as a part of the overall Cromer Prospect project.

Peter Stibbons, Chair of Cromer Regeneration Partnership said: "Another element of the overall Regeneration package is now complete. The initial response of visitors to the forecourt project has been tremendous, and I’m sure that will be the view of many more this summer. David Ward quickly spotted the central position of the lifeboat in Cromer’s heritage, and this is a splendid response to that heritage."

Rachel Drury, Arts Council England, East said: "North Norfolk District Council has successfully shown how contemporary art can help to revitalise a town. Arts Council England, East is pleased to have been involved with the scheme, it’s a positive move forward for the town and the surrounding area."

David Ward, Cromer Prospect lead artist said: "The ‘Prospect’ of the title means a view (out to sea and the horizon) and it also means to look ahead, to look forward…"

Cromer Prospect Media Contact and Photographs :
Paul Dickson tel. 01508 481831, mob. 0780 1103737, http://www.northnorfolk.org/arts/default_5774.asp

David Ward biography
Cromer Quotes
Project background
Arts Council England
Commissions East

1. David Ward
David Ward was born in Wolverhampton in 1951. He attended Wolverhampton College of Art and Winchester School of Art.

He has been Artist in Residence at King’s College, Cambridge and the Cambridge Darkroom (1991), Harvard University (1994) and Durham Cathedral (1997-98). He was a Research Fellow at the Henry Moore Centre for the Study of Sculpture in Leeds (1996). In 1990 he was a selector of the British Art Show and has been involved in other curatorial projects.

He has taught at a number of institutions, in particular Goldsmiths’ College (1987-95), Glasgow School of Art (1995-97) and the Architectural Association, London. He is a member of the Royal Academy Architecture Forum.

His work has developed to involve a wide range of media including light, photography, performance, sound and glass. Recent public commissions include works in Lowestoft, Bristol, Coventry, Wolverhampton and Reading, with a temporary commission for the BBC at Broadcasting House in London. In 2004-05 he was Visual Artist for the Siobhan Davies Dance Company production of ‘Bird Song’.

2. Cromer Quotes
Oscar Wilde, Elizabeth Gaskell and the poet AC Swinburne are featured in the stone rings, along with Clement Scott, the Daily Telegraph journalist who wrote ‘Poppyland’ in 1886, and did much to make Cromer a fashionable resort in the late Victorian era.

Jane Austen’s positive words about the town, spoken by Mr Woodhouse in Emma, and what Winston Churchill thought of a holiday here when he was a young boy have also been included.

From "Emma" by Jane Austen (1816): "You should have gone to Cromer, my dear, if you went any where Perry was a week at Cromer once, and he holds it to be the best of all the sea-bathing places. A fine open sea, he says, and very pure air."

Oscar Wilde (1892): "I find Cromer excellent for writing, golf better still."

Winston Churchill (when a young boy): "I am not enjoying myself very much."

3. Project Background
Cromer Prospect is part of a larger seafront enhancement scheme, contributing to the wider regeneration of the Cromer area, developed by North Norfolk District Council and the Cromer Regeneration Partnership.

The seafront improvements include the extension and refurbishment of the Pavilion Theatre and renovation of the pier entrance, plus new lighting along the promenade (all work finished), as well as the new RNLI museum, to be completed later this year on the site of the ‘Rocket House’.

Cromer Prospect has been managed by Commissions East on behalf of North Norfolk District Council, www.commissionseast.org.uk, with support from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, East.

4. Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development agency for the arts. Every year, they invest over £500 million of public funds in the arts in England including funding from the National Lottery. They believe that the arts have the power to transform lives and communities, and to create opportunities for people throughout the country. Arts Council England, East is one of nine regional offices, and covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk and the unitary authorities of Luton, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.

5. Commissions East
Commissions East brings new art to audiences through non-gallery commissions. By supporting commissioners and artists, Commissions East instigates and delivers a wide range of projects that demonstrate the power and importance of art in public spaces. Commissions East also offers a range of services for artists who live or work in the East of England.

Cromer Pier

Cromer Pier

Cromer Gardens

Cromer Gardens

Cromer Cliffs

Cromer Cliffs

Cromer Sea Front

Cromer Beach