A LIVING SCULPTURE

Resonance is a living 100-year artwork: 7 circles of 7 silver birch trees located on 7 lines radiating from the centre of the Lake District National Park. The birch trees were collected and planted between 2024 and 2026, with more than 130 people involved.

Each circle is laid out with precise dimensions: 3.5 metres in diameter. But each of the 7 circles has a different view, a different community of grasses, trees, weathers, people and aspect, and will have to navigate different challenges.

Resonance brings people together, places land at the centre of attention, and sets a stage for conversations about land management, trees, peat, protected landscapes and commitments to care.

The 7 circles in Cumbria have set things in motion: the constellation of a tree circles continues to evolve. We’re working with the Woodland Trust to supply planting packs to groups of people wishing to plant their own circle ….  More about this at the bottom of this page, so do get in touch if you’re curious.

Resonance has emerged from our work with the UK-wide LUNZ (Land Use for Net Zero, Nature and People) Hub (2022-2027). This government-funded consortium involves more than 30 organisations, collating knowledge, skills and evidence to feed into land management policy, and recommend pathways for practices across the UK; to enhance nature and help the UK meet its Net Zero targets, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon sequestration.

One of our roles within the Hub has been to create and curate novel spaces for conversations, for people to connect beyond their own silos of specialism, and to bring ‘nature’ into the centre of those conversations. Resonance is part of this.

Resonance is a richly collaborative project and has been made possible thanks to many individuals and organisations who have given advice, scoped sites, granted permissions, helped to collect and plant trees, given presentations, built protective cages, and helped to make each event fun and memorable.

Our thanks go to Natural England, National Trust, Lake District National Park Authority, Forestry England, University of Cumbria, Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas, Friends of the Lake District, Muncaster Castle estate, and to all the farmers, commoners, and volunteers who have joined along the way.  The creative outputs have been developed with filmmakers, illustrators and a musician from the PLACE Collective.

COLLECTING THE TREES

The trees began their life on Bolton Fell Moss, a peat bog in northern Cumbria. This is a remarkable place – the bog stretches for hundreds of hectares and forms a large part of the Bolton Fell and Walton Moss National Nature Reserve, under the management of Natural England. Bolton Fell Moss was mined for peat for many years, which caused extensive damage.

The bog is now in a process of restoration, with rewetting and the gradual spread of sphagnum mosses. Over time, the exposed areas of peat will become covered, and hydrological conditions will change. This should allow the bog to heal and to thrive as a place of biodiversity and abundance, while at the same time sequestering greenhouse gases. Volunteers are monitoring insects and birds on site, and scientists from the University of Cumbria continue to monitor the exchange of greenhouse gases.

Thousands of birch trees grow around the drier fringes of Bolton Fell Moss but are unlikely to thrive in the wet peat; in fact, their presence slows the healing process. Removing trees gives them a chance to grow to their full potential and helps the bog: it’s a radical act of care. So far, all the trees are thriving in their new homes.

More than 50 people joined the ‘Big Dig Day’ in 2024, to meet the bog, and carefully remove the trees. This gentle task was combined with presentations from peat specialists and an afternoon in the village hall for discussions among scientists, farmers, land managers, ecologists, computational modellers, conservation organisations, artists and others. The day surfaced important issues and helped to frame discussion topics for the 7 planting events, and for a 2-day conference at the University of Cumbria’s Ambleside campus in March 2025.

RESONANCE: LAKE DISTRICT LOCATIONS

1. Resonance: Grasmere. On the eastern edge of the Grasmere Valley, a 10-minute walk from the A591, in a woodland below Seat Sandal. The site is privately owned and is managed by Friends of the Lake District.
2. Resonance: Ambleside. University of Cumbria campus, overlooking the town.
3. Resonance: Grizedale. On the eastern edge of the Grizedale Forest, looking west towards Coniston Water and the Coniston Massif. The site is managed by Forestry England as part of the forest and sculpture trail.
4. Resonance: Birker Fell. Just off Red Gill Road, overlooking Eskdale Valley and with views to the sea on the west coast of Cumbria. This site is owned by Muncaster Castle Estate and grazed by the hefted flocks of local commoners.
5. Resonance: Langstrath. Set on a rise above Langstrath beck, beside an old charcoal-burning platform, with views up and down the valley. The land is owned by National Trust and comes under the care of tenant farmers the Bland family.
6. Resonance: Keswick. Southeast of Keswick, on land managed by National Trust and under the care of tenant farmers at Rakefoot Farm.
7. Resonance: Glencoyne. Close to the Ullswater Way footpath, looking towards Ullswater lake and Place Fell. The park is managed by National Trust and farm tenants, the Hodgson family.

PLANTING THE TREES

Planting the seven Resonance circles in the Lake District National Park has been a collaborative and fun process. As well as planting trees, we’ve used creative prompts for reflection and for conversations about land. Discussions have been rich, and new networks have formed. At each location, people who are connected with that place – as owners, managers, residents, visitors – have taken part alongside others who bring a regional or national perspective.

There is laughter, gentle conversation and a very practical co-working with tools and tasks shared. Discussions arise effortlessly: maybe about the soil, grasses, trees, rivers, or the view. In some places pupae buried into the soil have been carefully set aside and then buried with the roots of the birch trees. In separate conversations,  and in group discussions, people talk about particular places, restoration projects, farming initiatives, climate, money, policies, and more.

There is always a lot of time to pause, take in the experience, and, of course, eat cake.

What are the shared visions for the places we call home? How can we work well together to nurture the land and ourselves? What actions can we take that will make a difference, in ways that are fair, and life-enhancing? These and similar questions crop up during the planting days. They are core to the LUNZ Hub, are asked in the yards, fields and barns of farmers, in the labs of hydrologists and soil specialists or during computer modelling processes, in the meeting rooms of land management NGOs, and in board rooms of policy makers. We are all grappling with these vital, pressing issues.

The planting process shines a light on relationships and care, across landscapes. The sculpture sets something in motion – something that is living, growing, and here for the long term. These circles of trees may last for 100 years, or more, and even when the trees fall or die, the land around them will continue. We will be looking in on the circles regularly, and we are delighted that in each location there are individuals and groups of people who are also caring for them.

PLANT YOUR OWN RESONANCE CIRCLE

The 7 circles in the Lake District National Park are the beginning: now it’s time for the constellation of tree circles to grow. We’re delighted to have support from the Woodland Trust, who will supply trees to communities wishing to plant their own circles.

The ‘How To’ Guide has tree-planting template and tips, and prompts for conversations. We recommend planting ‘bare rooted’ trees between Dec 1st and March 1st, when the trees will be dormant.

So far, the furthest afield in the Resonance constellation is a circle of river birch at Principia College, Illinois, USA, planted by Forestry students in October 2025. We have also planted a circle at Patty’s Barn, Lancaster with the Herds performers, who walked with giant puppets from Africa to the Arctic in 2025.

Resonance has been a long time in the making, and continues with the growth of the trees in the 7 Lake District circles, and with new circles being planted. We’ve shared more detail about the project through blogs on this website, and over at the PLACE Collective website. If you’re curious, follow these links:

• Overview
• Big Dig Day
• Plantings
• 2-Day LUNZ Hub Big Tent event at University of Cumbria 
• Resonance Film and Music in the Making

FUNDERS AND SUPPORTERS

Resonance has emerged from our work with the UK-wide LUNZ (Land Use for Net Zero, Nature and People) Hub (2023-2027).

The Hub is part of the Transforming Land Use for Net zero, Nature and People (LUNZ) programme co-funded by UKRI, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (on behalf of England and Wales), the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland, and the Scottish Government.

The LUNZ Hub is supported by UKRI’s Building a Green Future Programme alongside three research councils:

• Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
• Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
• Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

For making things happen on the ground in Cumbria, our thanks go to Natural England, National Trust, Lake District National Park Authority, Forestry England (Grizedale), University of Cumbria, Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas, Friends of the Lake District, Muncaster Castle estate, and to all the farmers and commoners, and volunteers who have joined along the way.  The creative outputs have been developed with filmmakers, illustrators and a musician from the PLACE Collective.

Sarah Smout has composed the music for the Resonance film. Here she is, during a performance in the Langstrath Resonance circle, September 2025.