The first Bramley's Seedling tree grew from pips planted by Mary Ann Brailsford-Trump when she was a young girl in her garden in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, UK in 1809. The tree in the garden was later included in the purchase of the cottage by a local butcher, Matthew Bramley, in 1846. In 1856, a local nurseryman, Henry Merryweather, asked if he could take cuttings from the tree and start to sell the apples. Bramley agreed but insisted that the apples should bear his name.
The artist studied four particular trees at Yorkshire Sculpture Park - The Oak, Horse Chestnut, Beech and the Cedar of Lebanon. The trees were photographed and filmed in different seasons. Data was gathered in connection to each tree. Sound recordings of the trees moving and conversations with people about the trees were collected. The precious tree fruit was gathered and cast in bronze preserving memories of the fruitful past. The trees were visited and written about regularly through the seasons.
This is a veteran oak situated near the main entrance to Yorkshire Sculpture Park as you walk down towards the deer shelter. Sharon Durdant-Hollamby who is VC of the Institute of Chartered Foresters came to scan the roots of this tree. The root scanning data revealed that the roots extend in a 22 meter radius around the tree.
An interactive sculpture was created in relation to the four trees. The Frequency of Trees comprises a series of 12 tuning forks tuned to the frequency of different trees within YSP: Oak, Horse Chestnut, Beech and the Cedar of Lebanon in the Formal Garden. The frequency of sound is measured by counting the number of occurrences of an event per unit of time. By measuring the number of times a branch or leaf on a tree moved a certain distance within a set time frame, Locke was able to equate tree movements with Hertz readings, the unit used to measure sound.
This is a book published by the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and has an introduction written by John Newling. It follows the seasons at the park and four of the trees which the artist tracked and gathered data from in order to make The Frequency of Trees. It is a book about the seasons, nature, data, people, their stories and creating a public interactive sculpture.
The National Trust kindly give the artist access to the famous Newton's apple tree. Her Newton’s Apple series consist of Bronze and Aluminium casts of apples harvested from the ‘gravity tree’ at Woolsthorpe Manor, Isaac Newton’s family home. For at least 240 years the tree been shown to visitors as Newton's apple tree, the tree from which an apple fell and caused him to ask the question: 'Why do apples always fall straight down to the ground?'
Bells are traditionally used to ring out warnings and tell us of danger. The artist began working with bells instead of tuning forks in connection to trees and movement.The first bell has now been cast, tuned to the frequency of The Original Bramley Apple Tree in Southwell. The bell resonates at 500HZ when the temperature is 21 degrees, when the temperature changes so too does the resonance of the bell. Caroline intends to cast more Significant Tree bells as she continues to find different approaches for collecting tree data.
'The Tree Charter Bell' is used to create ceremony's around tree planting activities over the coming years. Caroline has her own Tree Charter Branch and is seeking out opportunities in order to extend the project. The first tree planting event will take place as part of the Woodland Trust’s Tree Charter Festival on Saturday 28th November 2020. Nottingham City Council will be signing the Tree Charter as part of a ceremonial event in the centre of the city. The Charter Tree Bell will be rung each time one of the Woodland Trust’s 104 Saplings are planted in 6 locations in the city.
On November 28th 2020 the Tree Charter Bell was used in ceremonies to plant 105 trees as part of the Woodland Trust's bid to build a mass movement of people for woods and trees. Caroline has her own Tree Charter Branch call Significant Trees. The Bell will be part of Branch activities for years to come.
The Tree Charter Bell is part of Caroline Locke's socially engaged practice where she invites members of community's to plant a tree and ring the bell. In 2020 Tree Charter Day was during lockdown so we ran the project with a team of two - the artist and Council Tree Officer Alex Begg. 105 tree were planted.
Caroline Locke uses sound as part of her art practice. Her interactive public sculpture, The Frequency of Trees comprises a series of 12 tuning forks tuned to the frequency of different trees within Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The frequency of sound is measured by counting the number of occurrences of an event per unit of time. By measuring the number of times, a branch or leaf on a tree moved a certain distance within a set time frame, Locke was able to equate tree movements with Hertz readings, the unit used to measure sound. More recently the artist has replaced the tuning forks with bells which are tuned to the frequency of trees. She has been working closely with John Taylor Bell Foundry in Loughborough to create bells in connection to her interactive sculptures
The Charter for Trees, Woods and People sets out the principles for a society in which people and trees can stand stronger together. The Tree Charter was launched by the Woodland Trust in 2017. The Tree Charter is rooted in more than 60,000 ‘tree stories’ gathered from people of all backgrounds across the UK.
In the Autumn of 2020 Locke was able to announce Nottingham City Council’s agreement with her to sign a pledge to The Woodland Trusts Tree Charter, which outlines 10 principals in connection with the future sustainability of the planet. As part of The Tree Charter Bell Ceremony II on December 5th 2020, Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, Councillor David Trimble, signed a pledge to the Woodland Trust's Tree Charter resulting in changes in the council’s approach to trees in Nottingham. David was invited to ring the ceremonial bell to mark the important signing of the pledge at Nottingham Forest Recreation Ground and a new memorial oak tree was planted .
