Spot the shimmering gold sheep of prosperity on the Sheep Art Trail, at the newly opened Eye Library in Suffolk
We are excited to share an artful collaboration with the Blossom Charity in creating Prosper Ewe! Keeping with House of Gharats love of creating fashion and lifestyle designs for an artful life. The premise of Neishaa’s creative inspiration for her sheep sculpture for the art trail is wishing prosperity for Suffolk. The story of this sheep sculpture interweaves the prosperity and vibrant culture of Suffolk, once brought by the wool trade to its present and future businesses. This sculpture will inspire the people of Suffolk to engage and add to the design through an interactive workshop at the new Eye Library and through online engagement.
Collaborating with The Blossom Charity
The story began when Neishaa Gharat, Founder-Designer of House of Gharats and Bridget McIntyre, Founder of The Blossom Charity, met and shared the stage at the Global Thinkers Forum, Athena40 event in London. The event was hosted by the Evening Standard, on International Women’s Day 2019. Neishaa Gharat describes her first interaction with Bridget McIntyre as “inspiration at first sight”. The Blossom Charity is based in Suffolk and aims to inspire and increase confidence in women and young people in East Anglia through coaching, mentoring, makeovers and style consultancy.
Neishaa Gharat was invited to create 2 sheep sculptures, one of which she designed being inspired by the prosperity that wool trade brought to Suffolk and Norfolk in the 15th century. Neishaa is not only keen to be influenced by the prosperity of the past but wanted to explore the present and the future prosperity of Suffolk through its vibrant, culture, communities and businesses. Neishaa’s wonderful team at House Of Gharats shared her enthusiasm and chipped in bringing her vision alive together with wonderful team spirit. Curious about the second sheep? Explore the fashionably naughty or as we say knotty sheep on the art trail christened the Knotty Ewe.
Sponsoring the collaboration – Pretam Gharat, Cosmetic and Implant Dentist
Dentistry is both an Art and Science. This collaboration is sponsored by Pretam Gharat @Harley Street, cosmetic and implant dentist based in London. His philosophy is to create a centre for excellence, where only the very highest standards in modern dentistry are provided to his patients. He strives to provide the most advanced treatments, delivering beautiful and natural smiles with a highly trained and caring team around him.
Pretam Gharat aka @thestylishdentist revels in being the subject of many photographers during fashion weeks, attempting to capture his sartorial way of dressing.
Neishaa Gharat was inspired by the importance of placemaking; Linking it to prosperity of Suffolk and its people
There are many ways to describe placemaking, the way we see it is a way to connect many different elements of a community. We believe that individual places are inherently connected to one another as well as people that are living, working, doing business, visiting and travelling locally.
The highlight of placemaking is understanding whether the public has an agency to instigate placemaking or take stewardship role in private spaces as they might in public spaces.
One interesting view into placemaking is to gather a wide range of viewpoints from the public into placemaking, this helps to understand what is already great about a place, creates more interesting places, taps into funding and investment opportunities, empowers communities and fosters civic pride.
Inspired by Suffolk
This passage written by Visit Suffolk truly encapsulates our love and inspirations found in the landscapes of Suffolk
“In a county as old and varied as this, there are hundreds of Suffolk stories to be told. Come and discover the tales that can be found in iconic landscapes such as the fields and fens of West Suffolk, the long stretch of coastline in the east, the lush Waveney Valley on the northern border and beautiful Constable Country in the south. Read the stories that have risen up over Suffolk’s long history and the tales of some of the most famous people in history. And come right up to date with everything that is going on in the modern day.
Suffolk is the place where you can find a house in the clouds, the balancing barn, a giant scallop on a beach, and the stretch of turf where champions run. And don’t forget the Suffolk mysteries – unnerving tales of ghostly bells beneath the sea, devil dogs stalking the darkened countryside, unearthly craft in the sky and the many haunted houses in Suffolk where ghostly residents wander restlessly. What will you find when you discover Suffolk.”
Prosper Ewe! Interweaving the past, present and the future prosperity of Suffolk.
History of the wool trade
Past
- Dawn of Wool : Wool as a raw material is available since the domestication of sheep.
- 12th Century : Wool was the most important asset in European trade – England major exporter of raw wool -peasants deal with travelling wool merchants.
- 1133: The Worshipful Company of Weavers is formed.
- 1133: Wool becomes the principal source of wealth in Medieval England – Anyone who owned land would raise sheep – Landowners developed direct links with cloth manufacturers abroad.
- 1337 – 1453: Hundred Year War – King Henry III & King Edward I heavily taxed wool to pay for the wars – Flemish weavers fleeing the war and French rule to settle in Norfolk and Suffolk – Switch to raw wool exportation to weaved wool cloth
- 1450 – 1530: Weaved wool trade becomes stronger & richer – Lords, abbots & bishops start to count wealth in terms of sheep. In addition, Suffolk nobility used their influence to acquire freedom of tolls for local cloth merchants. This enabled cloth merchants to freely trade around the country and inevitably increased their wealth.
- Birth of the Wool Towns: construction of beautiful churches and houses to display wealth – Ipswich is the main port of trade to Antwerp and Genoa – Flemish and Italian merchants frequent English market.
- Birth of the Wool Towns: THE CHURCH OF ST PETER & ST PAUL · EYE It dates from the 15th century when East Anglia was at the height of its prosperity from the wool trade. It was built by wealthy merchants and landowners.
- Birth of the Wool Towns: IPSWICH: The main port of trade to Antwerp and Genoa, bringing prosperity across the waters.
- Birth of the Wool Towns: Nearly every house in the so-called ‘wool towns and villages’ were either trading or making wool cloth. As their wealth increased, so did the size of their houses. In fact, merchants built fine houses and grand guildhalls.
- Mid 16th C: King Henry VIII’s war on the continent debilitates trade.
- The 1570s – 1590s: Men are ordered by law to wear woollen caps to church every Sunday to support the wool industry
- 17th C: Only 20% of Suffolk’s population is employed in textiles compared to 90% at its peak.
- 18th C: Wool weaving starts to decline in favour of silk.
- 1785: Huguenot silk weaving comes to Sudbury from Spitalfields, in London – the English “silk road” between London and Suffolk is established.
- First Industrial Revolution: The wool weaving industry is automated and moved up north – Final crash of the wool industry in Suffolk as they could not compete with mechanised loom factories.
- Preserving towns and villages: One of the most remarkable legacies of the wool towns and villages is that it took centuries for these settlements to recover from the industry’s crash. Therefore, for years, residents could not afford to rebuild or modernise the buildings, thus preserving the towns in their medieval state.
- Weaver, Dyer or Fuller: The wool trade has left a legacy after the industry crash in Suffolk. There are many local surnames linked with the industry, for example, Weaver, Dyer or Fuller, the chances are your ancestors were in the business. In addition, expressions like ‘on tenterhooks’ ‘pulling the wool over someone’s eyes’ or ‘dyed in the wool’ also originate from the wool trade.
Present
- Suffolk stays strong in crop farming and animal production – The agricultural industry composes 2.8% of its GVA – Sugar beet and malt production are some of the most important
- Suffolk’s local strength for the Live Sciences rely on food and health research, plant science, microbiology, animal health, ornithology and pharmaceutical research
- Manufacture of food products is the largest sub-sector – 50% of the jobs concentrated in the production and processing of poultry meat – Beer manufacturing employs over 2000 people
- Suffolk’s construction sector is mainly related to buildings and infrastructure and specialised activities of the energy sector
- Suffolk and Norwich host almost 70% of the UK’s offshore wind capacity – The three main wind farms are Sheringham Shoal, Seroby Sands & Greater Gabbard
- The digital economy in Suffolk is focused on computer programming and consulting and telecommunications – Telecommunications is the second largest digital sub-sector, concentrated in Adastral Park where the main BT research facilities are based
- As of 2018, 5 Suffolk SMEs were listed in the top 100 firms with the fastest-growing international sales
- In Transport: the George Baker Group ranked 8th nationally with 172% growth over two years in its international growth to take it to £7m.
- In Manufacturing: Rockford Electrical, ranked 9th
- In Digital: Online electronics retailer, The Pi Hut, ranked 21st with 108% growth and £4.3m worth of international sales.
- In Manufacturing: Superyacht Tenders & Toys of Ipswich, 45th
- In Publishing: The printing services firm, Denny Bros, ranked 71st with 46% growth and £1.6m of international sales.
- Suffolk Chamber of Commerce: Promoting and supporting Suffolk as a great place to do business within a regional, national and indeed an international context.
- Eat Suffolk Food & Drink Awards 2019 (see winners in Present & Future)
- Suffolk Distillery: Premium gin, lovingly handcrafted in Suffolk with a blend of exotic and locally sourced natural botanicals.
- Oscar-nominated film director Mike Leigh will be launching Film Feast Suffolk’s 2019 programme
- East Anglian Daily Times: British local newspaper for Suffolk and Essex, based in Ipswich. Published daily, from Monday to Saturday.
- Suffolk 2050: Suffolk 2050 plan to map the future of the county.
Future : Suffolk 2050
How Suffolk will progress as a county in the future? We learnt from the information from The State of Suffolk 2019 report which includes data from across the county, and it anticipates areas which are likely to be key concerns in the future.
Rethink their infrastructure to ensure the long term viability of Suffolk. To solve some of these issues, Suffolk has said this “ we need bold and brave solutions to meet the huge challenges facing us as a county.”, “We need to solve the problems created by an ageing population; of rapidly increasing demand for SEND [special educational needs and disabilities] provision; we need to create high skills, high wage jobs fit for the future” and “In the first instance much more must be done to develop and support Suffolk’s wonderful assets like our famous food and drink produce, a world-leading energy sector and popular tourist destinations.” The county aims to solve these issues by 2050.
Prosper Ewe! is housed in the brand new Eye Library.
Library manager Julie Shepherd said: “Everyone’s very excited about our new library including staff and our regular customers. Hopefully everyone will come along and take a look at the new library and what we have to offer, particularly anyone who may not have visited the library for a while, everyone is always welcome.”
Architectural designer Katherine Williams said: “The use of colour showcases a modern, vibrant facility to form a focal point for Eye, rejuvenating Cross Street by making use of a site occupied by an unattractive, dilapidated office building. The vaulted ceiling in the internal library area, creates a light and inviting space which offers itself to becoming flexible as a resource centre to the benefit of Eye and the wider community.”
Tony Brown, chair of Suffolk Libraries said: “It’s hugely positive to be able to open a new library. It’s been a great team effort to deliver a modern facility that will provide a better library environment and experience for everyone in the local community.”
The modern design of the new library, which was designed and overseen by Concertus Design & Property Consultants, offers a striking new addition to Cross Street.
The Eye Sheep Art Trail
Between 18th July and 6th September, the market town of Eye is home to a flock of very unusual sheep! Over 30 beautifully painted sheep can be found at various locations around the town, just waiting to be admired for their colourful fleeces! These sheep celebrate Eye’s historic connection with the wool trade and have been installed by The Blossom Charity, who is based in the town, share a bit of summertime fun with the local community and raise awareness of what they do.
You can follow the sheep art trail, by picking up a map from a number of locations in the town (including Dream on, the Library, Homestart, East of England and Central England Co-ops) or by visiting the sheep trail website . Don’t forget to share your experience and photos of what you found on social media, using the hashtag #eyesheeparttrail
The Charity Sheep Auction
On 12th September The Blossom Charity will host an auction to sell each of the sheep from the art trail to raise money for the charity.
This event, kindly sponsored by Imaginative Traveller, is to be held at 7 pm, at Kenton Hall in Suffolk. The auction promises to be a fun and interesting event, with a chance to meet some of the sponsors and artists at a drinks reception before the serious business of selling off the unique sheep art to the highest bidder! Anyone interested in acquiring a beautifully painted sheep as a piece of art for their business, their home or garden, or just as a talking point is very welcome to attend and sealed or telephone bids will be accepted. The sheep to be auctioned can be viewed here and this website includes details of how you can buy a ticket to attend the charity auction.
Key Dates
18th July – Trail launches: 7 pm, Scout HQ, Wellington Road, Eye, IP23 7HF
18th July to 6th September – Trail held throughout Eye
12th September – Charity auction : 7 pm Kenton Hall IP14 6JU