by Peter Appleton, located 1986, removed 1987
During his two month residency, Peter Appleton was able to realise his idea of a musical work which responded to the wind. Wind Chimes, situated near the stained glass window, was a cross-section of a pine trunk with six branches sticking out, placed on a 10 foot pole. Three sails alternated with three bell-shapes of different sizes to give different notes. The chiming of these bells had a pleasing irregularity, creating a continually changing harmony in the breeze. The bell shapes derived from metal containers being made for an ephemeral sculpture that only lasted one year, Nine Evening Fireflies, which consisted of tiny battery-powered red lights which flickered on and off to suggest the insect life of the forest.
The Wind Chimes were the result of finding an interesting object in the forest. The revolving section of tree with six evenly-spaced branches was a bit of waste left after a section of forest had been harvested. The bells were made from scrap metal found at the scrapyard in Cinderford. Its position close to where I stayed in my caravan was important. That area had been harvested before I arrived and the insects I often heard, but never saw, seemed to inhabit the remaining stumps, almost like the spirits of the departed trees. I thought the sculpture had a Tibetan feel and rang for the departed.