‘Halvergate Marshes’ forms part of The Broads National Park, a landscape with a distinctive sense of place, rich in biodiversity and ecology. Lying at or below sea level and bordering the coast, this marshland is sustained by a complex network of cuts, dykes, and drainage pumps, maintaining land that was once claimed by the sea.
Defined by fragility, impermanence, loss, and narrative, this is a landscape shaped by human hands. People built homes, lived, and worked here, investing themselves in the land. The marshes of The Broads are a constructed environment – drained, reclaimed, and continually shaped through human intervention. Situated on low-lying coastal terrain, they occupy land once dominated by the sea. Through the efforts of those who built mills, riverbanks, cuts, and drainage systems, the encroaching waters have been held back, allowing this landscape to endure.
This project began in early February 2016 with several weeks of walks, documented through drawing and photography. Using archival materials, maps, aerial imagery, and historical texts, it focused on three specific walks to a single location.
‘Halvergate Marshes’ was completed in 2017 alongside other engravings in this series
Selected for the Westmorland Landscape Prize Exhibition 2019
Exhibited at the RA Summer Exhibition 2019
