Missenden’s seat of learning

4:47pm Thursday 17th April 2008

A dying redwood tree has been given new life as a decorative seat inside the grounds of Missenden Abbey Conference Centre.

Wood-carver Dick Onians, who tutors at Buckinghamshire New University's Missenden Abbey for the Bucks Adult Learning programme, has spent almost a year working on the remains of the tree, which was thought to have been more than 150 years old.

"I’m really looking forward to the summer months to see if people are using it."

Dick Onians

Centre director Steve Crawford explains: "Rather than just fell it and remove all sight of it, we decided to create a seat for future generations.

"The tree, which has given joy to many over the 150 years, will continue to be a part of the abbey and will leave its own legacy, thanks to Dick Onians' wood-carving skills."

Dick, who was born in Buckinghamshire and now lives in Kings Langley, says: "People love art to have a function, so what I have designed is a seat with a very gentle spiral going up. As a result you can sit almost anywhere upon it."

The 68-year-old artist adds: "I've never made a seat out of a solid tree before, so this was really quite something of a challenge.

"I've done plenty of other large sculptures, but certainly not one so massive, or still attached to the ground!"

Dick, who was previously chairman of the Buckinghamshire Art Society, says he developed a variety of ideas for the tree remains, before actually undertaking the project.

He explains: "My original idea was to come up with this wonderful sculpture, but this proved too expensive and I found the wood was actually not durable enough.

"My design changed again after I discovered some intrusions of bark along the tree.

"This meant there were areas of weakness and softness that I couldn't quite get to, so I had to incorporate the bark into the design."

After months of working on the wood with a chain saw and finishing off the surface with a chisel, Dick finally unveiled the seat last week.

"Am I pleased with it? Absolutely," says Dick. "I'm really looking forward to the summer months to see if people are using it."

A new redwood sapling will now be planted in the grounds of Missenden Abbey.

Details: www.bucks.ac.uk

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