This project has focused on the research and photography of sites of historical and cultural interest in the United Kingdom. Many of the locations are forgotten or ignored now, even though many are Scheduled Ancient Monuments.
Some sites are obvious but others have little or no evidence of their previous use. Sometimes they are covered in woodland or scrub and often the banks, ditches or small depressions on the ground are the only clues to indicate human activity. These locations include Tudor iron forges, brick kilns, burial mounds, furnace ponds, flint mines, Iron-age hill forts, battlefields, industrial areas and Neolithic rock shelters. These are places of work, of industry and security, places of learning and community. These places were noisy, dirty, teeming with life and knowledge. They are now silent, punctuated by nature and inhabited by a diverse mixture of wildlife.
For this work I used a 5x4 view camera, recording the images on old glass plates. The plates were bought at auctions, camera fairs and markets and can be up to 80 years old. As such it is impossible to tell how much damage there is to the emulsion until the plate is actually developed. Results can be unpredictable with random damage and spotting often appearing in the negatives.
