MONT ORGUEIL EXHIBITION SCHEME The history of Mont Orgueil, the ’s inhabitants and the Island’s medieval history have been brought alive for the 21st century with new exhibits by specialist designers, artists and craftspeople, as the Heritage Trust Director, Jonathan Carter, explains.

THERE MUST BE LITTLE IN THE WAY OF HOPES visualisations and by representing aspects of history for which and despair, ambition and fear, ingenuity and effort that there are few original artefacts to exhibit. In years past, one hasn’t been expressed within the walls of Mont Orgueil solution was to use waxwork tableaux representing historic Castle over eight centuries of occupation. scenes from various periods. These were confined to the So, for the team involved in planning and Keep, where they had a strong, but in some ways adverse, commissioning the Castle’s exhibition scheme, the big impact. Theatrical lighting meant windows were blacked challenge was how to suggest aspects of the different out, and wall-to-ceiling wood and Perspex barriers broke up military, social, political, and natural histories in an the rooms and obscured the fabric of the building itself. imaginative and emotionally engaging way without So the new scheme was planned around a number of concealing or competing with such an architecturally ideas. We would try to use the whole castle, exterior as well important and archaeologically sensitive historic site. as interior spaces. We would avoid adapting the rooms The answer lay in the use of an approach pioneered by themselves in order to house exhibits. We would aim to the Trust at the nationally recognised cover a wide range of subjects, telling the stories of the castle Maritime Museum in 1997. Here, the Trust brought from many different viewpoints. And we would encourage together an eclectic and talented mix of designers, artists the involvement of a variety of artists, craftspeople and and craftspeople to consider and interpret technicians working in different media. Jersey’s maritime history. The innovative We drew up an extensive list of interpretation scheme worked well - potential relevant subject areas, and, and won the 1997 Museum of the separately, assembled a range of Year award. visual ideas, often based in But while the challenges of medieval images. Lead artist presenting big histories in Gordon Young helped us small spaces were the same in match subjects and ideas to both locations, there was artists who were invited to one crucial difference – the develop proposals. In some architecture. The Maritime cases these proposals went Museum is set in nowhere and were not warehouses on the New pursued, but in most cases North Quay – ideal gallery wonderful, creative exhibits spaces that allow a vibrant emerged that give life and mix of exhibits and presence to subjects and ideas information in many different for which we have only styles and materials to work with fragmentary historical remains. each other to create a dramatic Of the many exhibits in the overall effect. But at Mont Orgueil, castle developed in this way, the overly dramatic exhibits could compete following six help illustrate the approach with, and potentially damage, the character. we took. Another element the team had to bear in mind in planning the exhibition scheme was Jonathan Carter is Director of the Jersey that the quality of the exhibits at Mont Heritage Trust Orgueil could have a major impact on Tel: 01534 633313 visitors’ understanding by providing strong E-mail: [email protected]

THE HERITAGE MAGAZINE 69 The Perfect Knight Owen worked with the Royal inside protective layers and that we One of the biggest challenges in Armouries and recreated in close should “feel” his life within. Horses presenting the history of Mont detail the armour depicted in the and riders are fully aware of each other Orgueil is to get across the violent and tomb carving. He mounted the figure and I wanted to capture that dangerous military aspects of its past. on a horse – an important, expensive connectedness in a sculptural way.’ The figure of Sir Hugh Calveley, and much sought after accessory for a warden from 1376, represents the knight – and intended to capture the romantic image of the medieval structure, quiet power and alertness of knight – the epitome of power in a a well-schooled destrier. The sculpture feudal society and an awe-inspiring was constructed in cold forged steel. sight without doubt. Small sections of metal are beaten by The sculpture of the Perfect hand into a shape matching a Knight is based on the figure of Sir polystyrene maquette and welded Hugh Calveley. One of the most together over a steel framework. famous military commanders of his This immense work took place time, he became Keeper of the over nearly three years. Owen in 1376. Prior to that described the challenge. he had won several campaigns in the ‘Although the research for the Sir Hundred Years War and been awarded Hugh project was fascinating, it was numerous titles, including Admiral of also very daunting. Could my skills as the English Fleet, Captain of Brest a metal worker match those and Seneschal of Calais. fourteenth-century armourers who Owen Cunningham’s sculpture, were at the cutting edge of The Perfect Knight in the Middle Ward which is ten per cent larger than actual technology?’ size, shows a medieval knight’s ‘Once I realised that my role was armour in great detail. Very few suits that of sculptor and not a “would be” have survived from the 14th century armourer, then I relaxed and began to but Owen based the suit, which shows really enjoy the challenge. I decided at the various separate pieces he once that the horse would have to be probably would have worn, on a “alive” and fully part of the piece, not carving on Sir Hugh’s tomb in a plastic support for a suit of armour. The Perfect Knight – work in progress, the polystyrene Cheshire. Also, Sir Hugh himself was a man maquette

The Illusion of Witchcraft by described as ‘the stern militant witches ‘under pain of one month’s Mike Woods uncompromising Protestantism of France imprisonment in the castle on bread Between 1562 and 1660 there were at where all who belonged to the “New and water’. least 65 witch trials in Jersey – Religion” thought of themselves as soldiers In the grip of religious paranoia, resulting in at least 33 deaths and engaged in a life and death struggle with elaborate fantasies of diabolic eight banishments. This is an the Devil’. behaviour were imagined. As incredible insight into the religious During this period new laws were Lieutenant Bailiff Philippe Le Geyt fundamentalism that gripped the passed to safeguard the Sabbath. later reflected: ‘How many innocent Island at that time. People were Dancing, playing skittles and people have perished in the flames on incarcerated in the castle, and many gossiping could result in a prison the asserted testimony of supernatural killed, for crimes that were imagined sentence; missing church, swearing circumstances? I cannot say there are by a paranoid community. Mike and drunkenness could result in fines, no witches; but since the difficulty of Woods’s exhibit represents the power while the telling of licentious stories or convicting them has been recognised of that fantasy, and draws on period the singing of lascivious songs meant a in the Island they all seem to have images of witches and demons. fine for everyone present. In 1591 the disappeared as though the evidence of The Island was in the grip of what Royal Court banned diviners from time gone by had been but an G R Balleine in his seeking counsel or advice from illusion.’

70 THE HERITAGE MAGAZINE The Tree of Succession and Hall, the part of the early castle Wheel of Fortune by Brian Fell building with the highest status. Brian Fell’s Tree of Succession shows The Tree is complemented by a the interlinked fortunes of the French sculpture called the Wheel of and English crowns from 1154 to Fortune, also by Brian. The wheel was 1485. The royal houses of France and a common medieval image and England were closely linked by revealed that even kings and emperors marriage throughout the Middle cannot escape the vicissitudes of fate. Ages, but these complex relationships An illuminated illustration of the provoked significant Anglo-French Wheel formed part of an ancient rivalries and led to the Hundred Years manuscript found in Jersey called the War in which the castle played a part. Romance of the Rose, which dates back Eleanor of Aquitaine is at the base to around 1230 but which was stolen of the tree. She was one of the crucial from St Helier’s public library in links between the two dynasties. She 1955. The manuscript was first married King Louis VII of France photographed in the 1920s but only and then King Henry II of England, in black and white. It was described as first of the Plantagenets. It was their being ‘most delicately drawn and son, King John, who ordered the blazing with scarlets, pinks, blues, greens construction of Mont Orgueil and yellows, besides much gold-leaf in the following the crisis of 1204 and the backgrounds and borders’. loss of mainland . By The Tree of Succession in the Medieval Hall building and maintaining Mont Orgueil Castle, the kings of England announced to the world that they had political ambitions in this part of north-west Europe. The Tree is made of cold forged steel, but so fine is the detail that the metal seems almost to have been made of plastic. These medieval royal The Tree of Succession – faces are situated in the Medieval work in progress

This illusion is represented by Similarly, there are some references to Mike Woods in an elaborate piece of witchcraft, both local and generic. A interactive blacksmithery. As the Jerseyman, Jean Morant, sacrificed a handles are turned the figures become finger to his satanic master. I have animated to the sound of grinding shown this, along with other cogs and gears. witchcraft references, such as a bottle ‘I used techniques that would have of urine for protection from spells, a been familiar to metalworkers in the dead man’s hand for making spells and 16th century, although I also used witches’ familiars such as frogs, cats modern fabrication methods and and bats.’ 21st-century tools,’ Mike explained. ‘Before starting the project I delved into various books on medieval witchcraft and was inspired by Bosch and Breughel, as well as other lesser- known artists. I incorporated some references to this in the sculpture. Artist Mike Woods The Illusion of Witchcraft by Mike Woods – detail

THE HERITAGE MAGAZINE 71 The Wound Man Aubin’s Bay in 1406 survives to give us the sculpture have been translated The Wound Man reveals another, less a hint of the violence this sculpture from Latin. Creating such a large- romantic side of medieval warfare – represents. scale carving was in itself a challenge the damage medieval warfare wreaked ‘Dropping their spears, they for Owen, but there were further on the human body. Doctors of the grasped swords and axes, and joined in difficulties in siting the finished work period, and certainly the barber- a fierce rough and tumble. Then you in the confined space of the Elizabeth surgeons at the castle, would have could see helm severed from Gate. been familiar with the figure from their breastplate, and arm-plates and grieves ‘The Wound Man involved a medical texts, which show the Wound hacked off. Some grappled with return to wood sculpture for me,’ Man calmly absorbing the slings and daggers drawn and blood flowed in Owen explained. arrows of outrageous fortune. The torrents.’ (G Diaz de Gomez, El ‘To cope with such a large-scale exhibit is a reminder of the grim Vittorial, on the battle in St Aubin’s Bay, project, I enlisted the assistance of realities of conflict at this time, and it 1406.) chain saw artist Andrew Frost, who would be hard to find a better The carving, formed from huge blocked out the figure from the illustration of the phrase ‘long- section of oak tree trunk roughed out assembled oak trunks following a life- suffering’ than the Wound Man. with a chain saw, is closely based on an size polystyrene model I had made. There are few records that give illustration of 1420 in a manuscript in The figure on its base stands at over details of medieval combat in Jersey, the Wellcome Institute collection. The 5 metres high and is braced by a gal- but a poetic description of a battle in St texts describing the wounds around vanised steel armature. The armature

Fabulous Beasts by David Kemp “explanations” are constantly being mechanical dragon that might have Medieval minds believed there was a revised. The medieval world was been used in theatrical processions. land beyond their immediate space deeply superstitious, very little had The Griffin is made from bamboo and and time that was inhabited by strange been “proven” in scientific terms. papier mâché, lightweight materials and wonderful beasts. Many of these Dragons, griffins, fairies and goblins suitable for exhibiting it swooping fabulous beasts were thought to have were as ‘real’ to them as God or hell- from aloft. amazing and awesome powers and fire. Medieval minds were open to their images were adopted into belief, anything was possible. medieval heraldry. Heraldic images of ‘In the 19th century, the age of dragons, a unicorn and a green man Enlightenment examined medieval and woman appear in carvings in the beliefs in the light of scientific enquiry, castle. And images of fabulous beasts and many myths were dismissed as appear elsewhere in the Island; there is mere superstition. Rational a dragon window in St Martin’s explanations were constructed for the Church and a dragon wall painting in endurance of fragments from the past. St Clement’s Church, while a Griffin Myths, however, endure, occupying Fabulous beasts behind the Great Chamber supports a Le Marchand seal of 1453. spaces in the human mind beyond the David Kemp works in an rational. Archetypes persist, here ‘assemblage’ process, collecting and “there still be monsters”, representing recycling all sorts of discarded items. things that we do not quite believe, When things have been thrown away but still do not yet know. Objects may their functions are similarly discarded, be revealed to be “fakes”, but science

and David combines them in new has not yet provided all the “real” David Kemp’s Griffin contexts, discovering new identities answers.’ for them, an approach that is The components of these displays particularly relevant here. hint at the character and function of David said: ‘Throughout history, the creatures. The Dragon has been societies have collected relics from the reconstructed from fragments of past and presented them to illustrate carved wood, wrought iron, carthorse contemporary beliefs. History is harnesses and musical instruments, constantly being rewritten and evocative of some sort of medieval

72 THE HERITAGE MAGAZINE includes a jib hoist, which lifted the heavy oak elements into position in the confines of the Elizabeth Gate. Essentially a two-dimensional image, I have striven to preserve the naiveté of draughtsmanship often found in the barber-surgeon’s notebooks.’

The Wound Man – oak tree trunk roughed out with a chain saw The Wound Man – artist Owen Cunningham with work in progress The Wound Man exhibited in the Elizabeth Gate

King Death by Steve Gumbley warned them: ‘As you are, we once were; and on to the chamber walls. Death was never very far from the as we are so shall you be.’ Revolving slowly, like a prayer wheel, minds of – including When activated, Steve’s Danse this is a mechanical meditation on castle dwellers – in medieval times. Macabre sculpture slowly rotates to darkness and light, death and life.’ Hostile invasions and terrible diseases specially commissioned music, casting were a constant threat and Steve dancing shadows of skeletal archers on Gumbley reflects this in the shadow the walls of the tower. Explaining his sculpture. The figure illustrates the inspiration for the exhibit, Steve sense of mortality experienced in a pointed to both the strong sense of society where fighting and disease mortality experienced by our meant that life for most was brutal and predecessors, and the original use of short. the Bell Tower Chamber. Two vicious assaults in the 14th ‘People of the 14th and 15th century left Islanders feeling centuries witnessed death more than particularly vulnerable. In 1336 David we do today; it was an ever-present King Death in the Bell Tower Chamber Bruce and other Scots attacked Jersey threat, a shadow over life from birth to and Guernsey ‘inhumanely committing old age. This was reflected in the murder, arson and other atrocities’. Then popular stories of that time, with vivid in 1372 Ifan of Wales attacked images of dancing skeletons and Guernsey and there was great decaying corpses providing strong slaughter: ‘The French burnt and wasted reminders of mortality,’ he said. the whole Island and put men and women ‘The starting points of this exhibit to ransom. Then they entered Jersey and are these grisly warnings and the fact burnt and wasted there also.’ that the Bell Tower Chamber was used The remnants of the Trois Vifs and by archers, or crossbowmen, who Trois Morts wall painting in St defended the castle through the Clement’s Church are a vivid reminder arrow- slit windows. If you look at the of the medieval preoccupation with sculpture from above, it shows the death. This painting depicts a story, castle dominated by the King of Death which tells of a meeting between three and surrounded by deathly figures, all young kings and three corpses who casting shadows over Mont Orgueil King Death – view from above

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