Heart of Reeds
Lewes, 2005

Heart of Reeds was managed by Lewes District Council in partnership with Lewes Railway Land Wildlife Trust, East Sussex County Council and funded by Arts Council England, Viridor Waste Management, Southern Water and Harveys Brewery.
Arts consultancy and fundraising by Frances Lord.

Photography by Nicholas Sinclair

www.nicholassinclair.com
www.heartofreeds.org.uk
www.chrisdrury.co.uk

 

Heart of Reeds, a reed bed designed by land artist Chris Drury, is sited on the former railway sidings now reclaimed and designated as an important urban fringe Local Nature Reserve in Lewes, East Sussex.

Heart of Reeds takes the cross section of the human heart as its inspiration.

In consultation with the Lewes Railway Land Wildlife Trust and Lewes District Council, Chris designed a reed bed which is fully accessible via board walks and paths and incorporates a viewing mound and pond dipping platform. Prior to construction the ditches full of frogs, newts, eels and other aquatic creatures were carefully moved and reinhabited on the site after work was completed. A system of sluices, dividing the reed bed in half, enables water levels to be raised or lowered so that a flow of spring water is constantly flushed through the reeds and out into the water meadows.

The reeds will take up to 5 years to become fully established and the reedbed will be managed to maintain biodiversity.