Realisation

Planning permission for the Shotton surface coal mine and Northumberlandia was granted in late 2007. Charles Jencks, The Banks Group and Blagdon Estate then spent a further 18 months developing detailed final designs for the landform park, which were released in the summer of 2009.

Work on creating Northumberlandia officially began in the following Spring 2010.  Around 1.5 million tonnes of material (predominantly crushed and compacted stone, clay and soil) was taken from the surface mine to the construction site, where it was moved into place by members of the Banks construction and mining teams using bulldozers and excavators.

Landscaping work on the figure was carried out over the next two years, with additional infrastructure, grass seeding and other development work following in advance of the park’s official opening on 3 September 2012.

Northumberlandia’s right hand points towards the Shotton mine site, without which the project could not have been funded or created.  The entire project has been entirely privately funded by The Banks Group and Blagdon Estate.