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• A ‘mammoth’ idea gives birth to country park sculpture

• Date:

  23rd April 2008

• Contact:

  Sarah Egerton

• Organisation:

  The Civic Trust

Cyclists enjoying a ride through Watermead Country Park in Leicester would be forgiven for doing a double take when confronted by a life size model of a mammoth!

Known locally as Woolly, The Millennium Mammoth is a scientifically accurate model of a Woolly Mammoth which was funded by Sustrans and Leicester City Council as part of the National Cycle Network which stretches for several thousand miles between Dover and Inverness.

The mammoth project came about when Senior Parks Officer, Barry Ingram was looking for something to act as a focal point on the only hill in the park. Consulting with the local community brought forward ideas such as benches, picnic tables and standing stones but they were dropped when it was decided they may become sources of anti-social behaviour.

Barry said: “I knew that Ice Age creatures’ remains had been found below the hill in what is now a lake – this gave me the idea for the sculpture.” Around 20 years ago when the now flooded gravel extraction pits were created, a large log was found buried in the deposits. Wedged underneath it were the remains of Ice Age animals including Woolly Mammoth.

Barry took the idea for a mammoth sculpture to park users. Their response was very positive so planning permission was applied for and subsequently granted.

Artist Daniel Fraser Jones, who had trained locally at Loughborough University, was drafted in to realise the initial idea.

Barry explains: “I wanted someone who would bring to life what I had in my mind’s eye, at the same time as not wanting to stifle the artist’s creativity.”

Daniel proposed to build the mammoth from a substance called jesmonite, a versatile material which can be finished to resemble plaster, stone, metal or wood. Unfortunately, vandals found this easy to attack and the project was destroyed by fire before it was finished.

Daniel then came up with idea of using motorway bridge concrete. Sustrans was approached for part funding and they matched Leicester City Council’s funding. The total cost of the project was £11,000. The project was completed within a year and has since received international recognition - a search of the internet under ‘Watermead Mammoth’ reveals that people from around the world have been to see and photograph ‘Woolly.’

Barry says: “The monument celebrates our heritage and symbolises the link with our ancestors and the local landscape. It creates a sense of time and place, it represents a focal point for the Leicester section of the national cycle network and it provides an educational resource for schools.

“The Woolly Mammoth is believed to have died out due to climate change and possible human overkill. These are two issues only too familiar to us today. What more magnificent an ambassador from the past to remind us of the need to care for the future?”