Sutton Manor
The Sutton Manor Colliery Site
The chosen site for the Big Art Project in St.Helens is the former Sutton Manor Colliery which has a history of more than 400 years of mining. The former colliery was at the heart of the local community until its closure in 1991. A group of ex-miners who worked there nominated the site for Channel 4’s Big Art Project and act as the main project focus group as part of the artist commissioning process.
Sutton Manor Colliery occupies a highly prominent position overlooking the M62 motorway close to Junction 7, midway between Manchester and Liverpool, at the gateway to Merseyside and within England’s largest community forest.
The local community is passionate about creating a landmark new art work on the site. Supporters want to celebrate the massive human endeavours that took place there and to highlight contemporary energy-related issues. Ultimately the new artwork will help to put St.Helens on “the map” by symbolising the Borough’s positive regeneration and bright future.
The working title is the town’s 19th century motto “ex terra lucem” (from the earth comes light…).
