Manual Ref* SUwaLO013 Show image 322
Title*

Sculpture for Ness Point
County Suffolk   District Council Waveney 
Civil Parish or equivalent Lowestoft  Town/Village* Lowestoft 
Road Gas Works Road 
Precise Location Ness Point, the most Easterly point in Britain 
OS Grid Ref TM555937  Postcode NR32 
Previous location(s)  
Setting Industrial area on the East Coast, north of Lowestoft seafront, near the wind turbine  Access  
Artist/Maker Role Qualifier
Christopher Tipping  Artist(s)  with 
Landscape Design Associates  Architect(s)   

Commissioned by

 Waveney District Council in association with Anglian Water 

Design & Constrn period

 1999-2001 

Date of installing

 2001 

Exact date of unveiling

  

Category
Abstract Animal Architectural
Commercial Commemorative Composite
Free Functional Funerary
Heraldic Military Natural
Non-Commemorative Performance Portable
Religious Roadside, Wayside Sculptural
Temporary, Mobile Other  

Object Type
Building Clock Tower Architectural
Coat of Arms Cross Fountain
Landscape Marker Medallion
Mural Panel Readymade
Relief Shaft Sculpture
Statue Street Furniture War Memorial
Other Object Sub Type:

Subject Type
Allegorical Mythological Pictorial
Figurative Non-figurative Portrait
Still-life Symbolic Other

Subject Sub Type
Bust Equestrian Full-length
Group Head Reclining
Seated Standing Torso
Part Material Dimension
The Tower  Concrete, steel and glass  H 12 m x Dia 6.4 m (approx) 
The Defence  Oak, gravel and lighting  H 2 m (49 posts to the north, 60 to the south) 
The Promenade (ramps)  Industrial concrete  H 0.5 m x L 6 m x W 4 m (ea. approx) 
Viewing Platform  Concrete and steel  H 115 cm x W 540 cm x D 48 cm 

Work is
Extant Not Sited Lost

Owner/Custodian

 Waveney Disrict Council 

Listing status
Grade I Grade II* Grade II Don't Know Not Listed

Surface Condition
Corrosion, Deterioration Accretions
Bird Guano Abrasions, cracks, splits
Biological growth Spalling, crumbling
Metallic staining Previous treatments
Other  
Detail:

Structural Condition
Armature exposed Broken or missing parts
Replaced parts Loose elements
Cracks, splits, breaks, holes Spalling, crumbling
Water collection Other
Detail: The glass plate on the viewing platform is removed or not installed. The lighting around the tower is non-functional with exposed wires. The proposed seating in the Promenade is missing so that the area serves only a car parking function

Vandalism
Graffiti Structural damage Surface Damage
Detail: The glass canopy has been removed due to vandalism, awaiting a proposed steel replacement. There is some minor sprayed graffiti at the base of the Tower, on the viewing post, and on the lights in the Defence

Overall condition
Good Fair Poor

Risk
No Known Risk At Risk Immediate
Signatures/Marks  
Inscriptions  

Description (physical)

 Large circular outfall tower with obliquely sliced top, wrapped with a steel pipe (extending beyond the tower with an end light) and showing fixings for a stepped glass canopy (removed due to vandalism). At the foot of the tower is a viewing platform with a circular post upon which was supposed to be attached an illuminated glass plate saying 'EAST'. The car park and seating area incorporates concrete blocks rising out of the pavement with large oak posts arranged in lines on either side of the tower 

Description (iconographical)

 The Sculpture at Ness Point is in an incomplete and reduced state, consequently conveying ideas of contemporary decay more than intended commemorative and geographical values. The absence of the inscribed glass plate, designed to encourage contemplation on what it means to stand at Britain's most easterly point, means that the purpose and meaning of the sculpture is extremely unclear and the work as a whole effectively invisible. The rising concrete blocks or ramps in the parking area are intended to convey the coastal scour, but again this is obscure. The oak posts however, which seem more finished, are quite easily and appropriately associated with sea defenses and naval history. They also have an abstract value and serve fairly effectively as a screen. The spiralling pipe on the tower relates to the gasometer and emissions towers in the industrial estate consistent with the brief to convey 'the nature of the site' 

Photographs

 Date taken:  8/9/2006
Date logged:  10/9/2006

Photographed by:
David Hulks and Chris Tipping

On Site Inspection

 Date:  8/9/2006

Inspected by:
David Hulks

Sources and References

 Telephone interview with the artist and subsequent private correspondence (18-Sep-07) / www.publicartonline.org.uk/case/oxbridge/pub_art_lowestoft.php accessed 26-Mar-07 / www.commissionseast.org.uk accessed 26-Mar-07 

Database

 Date entered:  26/3/2007

Data inputter:
David Hulks