Six Stones

SIX STONES A memorial to lost and endangered species. The three stones with skulls and wings, species lost to West Sussex in the last century, look towards the the stones with hourglasses whose time is running out. The symbolism is taken from the marvellous and explicit 17th and 18th century stones found in churchyards. The shape however is more akin to a milestone suggesting that we are on a journey towards a different place. The sixth stone plainly refers to our possible extinction, what however is certain is that the joyful diversity of life which our grandparents knew has already been lost through the actions of man, the three lost species are taken from a long list, kindly prepared by Richard Williamson, containing sixty plants alone. Whilst the animals, plants, insects and birds referred to are specific to West Dean and its environs they illustrate a story which is becoming universal, small and largely unnoticed losses everywhere. The stones are small and modest as are the names on the stones, even the sixth species may become a footnote in the history of the Earth if we do not collectively take individual action.