The Cloister Garden – 21st century
The History
This century is just over two decades old, but has seen some traditional Churches come to the gradual realisation that a society based on Christian values can no longer be taken for granted, with the church being just one of many life-styles available in our post-modern world. In the first decades of the century the church is gradually moving from a reactive pastoral model of ministry to one of mission.
The Design
The lawn in the middle of the cloister development (yet to be built) is a sandstone sculpture that deals with some of the key challenges for church and state in the 21st century – refugees associated with war, and climate change.
The sculpture created by Pete Yarwood is of an over-sized teddy bear, dropped by a fleeing child in a ruined city. It has echoes of Jesus and his family fleeing to Egypt to escape a massacre by Herod. A second ‘temporary‘ lawn is located on the footprint of the proposed Cloister. The waves represent refugees fleeing across seas.
The planting down the long walk beyond the lawn also has a series of waves in the planting delineated by the blue Agapanthus.
Today
A bundle of belongings is not the only thing refugees bring to a country. Two famous refugees include: Albert Einstein who fled Nazi Germany and Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, the son of a Syrian Refugee.