‘Threshold’ + ‘Under the Shadow of the Crane’ + ‘Stories in Stone & Timber’   

‘Rochester Riverside is a brownfield site adjacent to the River Medway and the historic city of

Rochester. The site comprises some 32 hectares of mixed use and derelict land with a river frontage of approximately 0.75 miles.’ MASTERPLAN & DEVELOPMENT BRIEF FINAL SPD Allies and Morrison Urban Practitioners September 2014

‘Under the Shadow of the Crane’ is a reference to the whole of Rochester Riverside as, for much of its post 20th Century history, it was dominated and defined by tall cranes, loading, and offloading from the various wharfs. A single 200tonne crane was retained & moved to this new position at Blue Boar Hard as a landmark and heritage beacon. 

Crane Point is the name for the public realm and viewing point situated under the shadow of the crane. The landscape has been designed by LUC Landscape Architects as an amphitheatre with precast concrete stepped seating and concrete paving extending around and beneath the crane. A large apartment block sits adjacent to the public space and look out over the crane and the River Medway.

I was commissioned by FrancisKnight Public Art Consultancy for client Countryside Properties (UK) Ltd and The Hyde Group as part of a wider creative collaboration with the project team and more directly with BPTW Architects, LUC & FrancisKnight. 

This public art commission forms a part of the £400million development of up to 1400 new homes being built here. 

This site was a hugely industrious place for hundreds of years, providing and creating the wealth upon which Rochester grew into a powerful and beautiful cathedral city. This wealth, however, is not to be found in the grand and the elevated. The everyday local working life of this site over time has contributed a rich social and community-led legacy through the people whose livelihoods were centred on this fascinating site on the Medway. 

Ship breaking, barge building, sail making, gasworks, railways, livestock, transport, fishing, metal and aggregate trades and market gardening have all at various times left an indelible and tangible mark on this place, as have the domestic residences, pubs, shops, and small businesses. 

Much of this information was found within the archives and collections of Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre at Strood. I have also consulted with other notable local agencies and organisations, such as Rochester Cathedral Library, the Guildhall Museum and John K Austin, a local artist, writer, and historian.