Horizon

The concept was the winning entry in a competition called The Havens Commissions, instigated by Lincolnshire County Council, Boston Borough Council and the arts organisation Transported.

The project represented a continuation of the Structures on the Edge programme, with pieces located at various intervals along the Lincolnshire coastline, including the Sound Tower, also by MSA-Gruff.

The programme’s intention is to encourage an increased engagement with the unique coastline and natural environment, driving local and regional tourism and outdoor recreation, which has been in ever more demand over the last two years.

Inspired by the significance of its site, this structure explores themes of nautical navigation, imagining journeys into the unknown and beyond the horizon. In 1607 a group who later became known as the Pilgrims attempted to leave from a place nearby, leading to one of many transatlantic journeys and a complex, challenging history.

The structure references navigational instruments and methods used by maritime travellers for millennia. It is a meeting place to sit, shelter and interact with other people, the landscape and reflect on the history of the site. Looking back to Boston and out to The Wash, beyond the horizon, the structure represents an abstracted composite of historic navigational instruments. Part sextant, part sun-compass, part orrery, it can be reconfigured and curated by visitors to alter seating positions in relation to views, shelter and shadows.

Sitting atop the defensive embankment to protect Boston and the surrounding areas against flooding, the structure has been carefully engineered by Foster Structures, to manage the local constraints, completed in conjunction with the requirements of the Environment Agency and Natural England. Fabricated by Art Fabrications and additional funding provided by the Arts Council.