THE STORM BREAKS
NAME : The Storm Breaks DATE : 2025 LOCATION : Battlefield, Bosworth CLIENT : Hinkley & Bosworth Borough council
PARTNERS : Adrian Wright (stonemason)
AIM
Bosworth1485 sculpture trail officially launched on 22 August 2025 as part of the Bosworth Festival of History.
A trail through the landscape - told within 5 chapters.
CONCEPT
Chapter 2: The Storm Breaks
When force meets force, when the air crackles with electricity, then everything can be turned upside down in an instant. And with the heat of the moment comes altered perspective. Time stands still, men become giants, actions take on the quality of myth. Yet from the outside, there may be little to see.
This is an artwork about untamed forces.
Up close they tower overhead and blaze with warrant in the form of heraldry that tattoos them like the arms of street-fighters. Their intimidating presence is overwhelming. But from the next field they become little more than a collection of standing stones dwarfed by the landscape. A curious ancient monument to a brief two- hour flashpoint in an English meadow.
This piece is designed to be approached and walked through, affording a gradually changing experience. Stone of different kinds has been sourced from all over the British Isles, to reflect the character of the warring forces as well as the general disarray of civil war.
INSTALLATION
Each stone was carefully lifted and anchored into position, until each figure was standing in its opposing army.
The fallen figures were also positioned, including two stones representing fallen horses
Stencils were cut to allow us to sand blast the heraldry specific to each figure, the blasted rebate was then painted by hand.
The raised mound was then finally shaped with top soil and seeded.
MAKING
The Sculptor Mason Ade Wright worked from scale models to enlarge each of the standing figures.
Trips were made to stone quarries around the country to select the right blocks, which were then split using 'plugs and feathers' - see two images top right.
Effort was made to choose stone appropriate to lands connected to each of the Barons and also Richard and Henry. The standing figures were then delivered in sections to the field off Fenn Lanes.
“The Storm Breaks captures the chaos, uncertainty, and mythic scale of the Battle of Bosworth Field and stands close to the actual location where Richard is believed to have launched his final, fatal cavalry charge. It can be found at Fenn Lanes near Bosworth Battlefield.
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