A Harrogate wood carver has expressed disappointment after vandals ripped off the face of one of his sculptures.

Jonathan Sherwood, who operates under the trading name Sherwood Carving, created the red kite sculpture for Harrogate Sports & Fitness Centre.

The artwork stood proud in the Crimple Valley area of Harrogate for just two months before vandals damaged it last Tuesday.

As the missing piece could not be found, Mr Sherwood is going to try and recarve the head this evening. He told the Stray Ferret:

“I always try to make my carvings quite sturdy but unfortunately if someone really wants to do some damage then they are able to.

“Obviously it is disappointing. I was quite surprised to see it like that. I am fully booked with work so I will have to go in the evening to have a look.

“Hopefully I will be able to recarve it by moving the position of the bird’s head slightly.”

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Local resident Mike Ulman found the damage last week and posted pictures of it on a community Facebook page.

The post prompted numerous comments from people sharing Mr Sherwood’s disappointment and questioning the motivations of whoever was responsible.

Striking contemporary art, with echoes from the past, has been installed at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal water garden.

Visitors to the 800-acre UNESCO World Heritage site, will see a visual transformation, brought about through the work of Steve Messam.

His three thought-provoking installations titled These Passing Things, have been designed to prompt another way of looking at landscape and historic buildings.

Drifted – 12 Floating pyramids in the canal – takes its inspiration from a lost pyramid folly, designed as a memorial monument to honour John Aislabie, the original designer of the water garden.

Following Aislabie’s death, in June 1742, his son William commissioned a 16-metre-high funerary pyramid.

Bridged, reflected in the waters of the river Skell, stands out in the landscape with the abbey ruins providing a stunning backdrop.

However, despite archive records of scale drawings and detailed costings for the piece, no further mentions of it were ever made and no record or evidence exists of this mysterious pyramid ever being built

Mr Messam’s second artwork is Bridged – a scarlet contemporary bridge sitting across the river Skell, close to the site of a lost iron bridge from the 18th century.

The Drifted and Bridged installations will be on display  throughout the summer, while Spiked – an inflatable artwork – will be making occasional appearances.

It bursts through the columns of The Temple of Piety, with a statue of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, looking on from the lake.

Steve Messam is  pictured with Spiked, which provides the opportunity to reflect on the contrast between classic and contemporary artforms

The Aislabie family, created many follies to surprise and delight their 18th century guests and Mr Messam hopes his contemporary works will attract similar attention.

He said:

“I guess the overall thing is identifying with the whole concept of follies – architectural oddities of no specific function, other than their visual aesthetic.

“While, over time, we may invest them with meaning or stories, at their core they’re just there – large-scale artworks in the landscape. As an artist that’s what I’ve been interested in for the past 20 years.

“I’m also interested in the role that follies play in creating focal points in constructed views of the landscape.”

Justin Scully, general manager at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, said:

“Studley Royal water garden is a designed landscape; a living work of art.

“By working with artists, responding to this legacy, we’re helping to bring the water garden to life for our visitors today.

“We hope that These Passing Things will get our visitors thinking and start a conversation about the connection between the past and the present, whilst offering people a relevant, fresh experience of the Georgian garden.

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Through its Trust New Art programme, which is supported by Arts Council England and the Arts Council of Wales, the National Trust aims to connect more people to its places through contemporary arts.

More details can be found at nationaltrust.org.uk/fountainsabbey

Councillors have expressed concern that plans to erect a sculptural montage of ancient buildings of Rome on a Ripon bypass roundabout could cause traffic accidents.

The five-metre high cast resin sculpture, with information plaque and lighting, is planned to celebrate Ripon Cathedral’s 1,350th anniversary.

But there are concerns it may distract motorists and cause accidents.

The cathedral plans to commission five major art works over a four-year period.

The proposed location for a boat sculpture depicting St Wilfrid’s sea travels.

Three of the works require approval from Harrogate Borough Council and a planning application has been submitted.

Under the theme of From Rome to Ripon, they will tell the story of the city’s patron saint and cathedral founder St Wilfrid.

The concept is supported by Ripon City Council, but at a meeting on Monday evening, they agreed to seek a meeting with the cathedral’s project team to discuss concerns.

City council leader Andrew Williams said:

“In principal, I fully support the artwork proposal, but I feel that we need to look again at the sculpture proposed for the roundabout.

“The bypass is a very busy road and I am concerned that the artwork with lights on could be a distraction to road users and lead to accidents.

“I also question how sensible it would be to have an information plaque on the sculpture – we wouldn’t want pedestrians to walk on to the roundabout to read it.

“Surely there must be a better location than this for the artwork.”

Fellow councillors agreed there was a need for further discussion with the applicant.

The council will write to Harrogate planners calling for the application to be deferred until this aspect of the plan is resolved.

The other two sculptures requiring planning permission are, firstly, of a boat containing figures that represent St Wilfrid on his sea travels. He made several visits to and from Rome during his time in Ripon.

This would be the first of the installations in June of next year.

The second installation, cast in bronze and standing five metres high, would depict St Wilfrid and a follower, which is planned for the corner of the Market Square that looks down onto Kirkgate.

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It is proposed that this will be in place by June 2024.

The artwork currently earmarked for the Ripon bypass roundabout would initially be installed from June 2025 in the narthex at the the western end of the cathedral, before being relocated.