Between the trees

YSP has a strong connection to trees, from our partnership with the Oak Project to artworks created from and inspired by trees.

The Park is home to 4 ancient trees planted in the 17th century, and the managed landscape boasts a number of mature trees that are over 250 years old. These amazing trees have been an inspiration to artists, from David Nash’s site-specific works which have been a feature of the Park for over 40 years, to Studio Morison’s Silence, which is slowly returning to the natural environment.

Not always immediately obvious that they’re sculptures, many of these works are designed to change over time, responding to or becoming part of the landscape. See if you can find these evolving works as you explore the landscape.

Anya Gallaccio: Blessed

Easy to mistake for a natural apple tree, Blessed immortalises a tree in bronze with ceramic apples. This memorial to a living object arrives at a price as the process of casting destroys the tree. Blessed is found in the Bothy Garden near to historic fruit trees that line the walls. Many of the apple tree varieties around 100 years old, with the first grown here in 1790.

Caroline Locke: The Frequency of Trees

Every living thing creates sounds, including trees. Caroline Locke measured the movements of branches and leaves to give each a Hertz reading, the unit used to measure sound. Gently strike the tuning forks and listen for the sounds that are created. Some of the forks make sounds outside human hearing, but moles underground will be able to hear the sound when humans can’t.

A dead tree, suspended between two dry stone walls.

Andy Goldsworthy: Hanging Trees

Andy Goldsworthy is interested in boundaries, particularly YSP’s ha-has, a sunken boundary created to avoid interrupting the view. Oxley Bank was chosen as the site for Hanging Trees because it is the dividing boundary between two areas of agricultural land. Peer over the dry-stone wall and see a series of trees, suspended horizontally and naturally decaying.

People standing in a field admiring Peter's Fold, a dry stone wall encircling a large tree.

Andy Goldsworthy: Peter's Fold

Peter's Fold is a permanent outdoor artwork that was created to mark the retirement of YSP Founding Director Sir Peter Murray CBE. A dry-stone wall circles a common lime tree, protecting it from nibbling cattle and creating a hidden space below the tree. When the tree is in full bloom, it looks as if it is hovering in the landscape.

Rows of silver birch saplings in a square formation

David Nash: 49 Square

Described by Nash as a ‘coming' work, the 49 Himalayan birch trees which make up 49 Square will grow to form a white cube. This ‘living sculpture’ links to Ash Dome, a pivotal work created by Nash in 1977, the same year that YSP was founded. The manipulation of trees has a long history at YSP, where exotic specimens were planted to create the managed landscape we can now enjoy.

Three large stones, with trees growing behind them

David Nash: Three Stones for Three Trees

Planted in the early 1980s next to three large sandstone blocks from Barnsley quarry's, a sycamore, an oak and a beech tree have been growing in the YSP landscape for 40 years. Another of Nash's ‘coming’ works, the trees continue to grow in a constantly evolving relationship with the stones.

Heather Peak and Ivan Morison: Silence – Alone in a World of Wounds

Commissioned by the Oak Project, Silence is a sculptural space made of all natural materials which circles a group of birch trees. Over time, the work will become part of the landscape as the weather contributes to its decomposition. Take a moment to listen to the sounds within the work and connect with the natural world.

Hemali Bhuta: Speed Breakers

Drawing inspiration from Indian folklore and the history of the Bretton estate, Speed Breakers are the roots of a fallen beech tree, cast in bronze and reintegrated into the route through the wood. Easy to mistake for natural roots, the work references the roadside shrines commonly found in India that can go unnoticed by passers-by.

Download the Bloomberg App to hear Connor Shields talk about the symbolism of the beech tree.