Lines of Enclosure

Lancaster Arts, 2022

In 2021-22 Julia was commissioned to make a new work for Lancaster Arts at Lancaster University. The commission was aimed at enlivening the spaces of the university campus.

Julia looked at the history of the site and found that prior to the University there existed a rich tapestry of copses, small patches of water, grassland and stone farmhouses and buildings, some of which are preserved to this day. The site was mostly situated within a large enclosure, though a small part lay outside this on Scotforth Moor which was common land until it was enclosed in 1809. At this time the converting of woodland into cultivated land was very common, although often illegal, and fields were burnt, re-seeded and drained as part of this process. Julia looked at Ordinance Survey maps from the 1840s to see where these field boundaries existed and has physically painted these back into the landscape. The work helps the viewer to consider the origins of this site, how it was laboured, cultivated and cared for, and how fences were built to highlight ownership, creating borders and boundaries. It offers a glimpse of the campus’ history and its transition from open to enclosed land, and from farming to educational uses.