ACCLAIMED sculptor Walter Bailey has created a landmark oak bench at at the National Trust viewpoint at Hindhead’s Gibbet Hill.

Visitors enjoyed the opportunity to see the artist in action, as he expertly sculpted his ‘Xylem’ bench, using a chainsaw.

Bailey was commissioned as part of the Surrey Hills Arts’ Inspiring Views project, designed to open up hidden views along the Greensand Way in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Five artists have been commissioned as part of the project, which was funded by the Mittal Foundation, and also sought to improve access and engage with communities.

The inspiration for the Xylem bench came from Bailey’s studies of charcoal. He examined charcoal under the microscope and made enlarged studies. and also looked at the historical relevance of charcoal to the Greensand Way and local industry.

Walter also led a workshop with Woolmer Hill School students in which he showed them his studies of charcoal and they made their own charcoal drawings.

Surrey Hills Arts chairman Perdita Hunt, who is director of Watts Gallery in Compton, said: “The opportunity to bring together art and landscape is powerful and potent.

She hoped the artists’ commissions in five of the most stunning viewpoints in Surrey will give many hours of pleasure and discussion.

Mrs Hunt added: “We are very grateful to the Mittal Foundation for making this possible.”

The artist added: “It has been a joy to return to explore and be inspired once again by the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. I was fascinated to discover that the tranquil Surrey Hills landscape harboured such a hive of industries, all reliant on the production of charcoal over many centuries.

“My research for the project led me to photomicrographs of local charcoal samples, which provided the starting point for my drawings and sculptures including the ‘Xylem’ bench on Gibbet Hill. I enjoy imagining people over the coming years, taking their ease and enjoying the southern view from Gibbet Hill, my hope is that some will be inspired by the view to create their own artworks.”

For more information visit www.inspiringviews. org