Bring Back the Hare to Rawtenstall

Funded on
04 Nov 2025

A majestic, corten steel hare sculpture at the centre of Rawtenstall, promoting ecology, tourism, education, and folklore. A new visitor destination, and a new focus for pride of place in Rossendale.

£23,413 Raised of £23,401

160 Backers

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Anonymous - £10
7 months ago

Marjan Wouda and Mid Pennine Arts - £655
7 months ago

T C Components ltd - £250
7 months ago

Michael Gibson - £10
7 months ago

Kate Chilvers - £25
7 months ago

Anonymous - £10
7 months ago

John Hopton - £25
7 months ago

Shelley Heneghan - £20
7 months ago

Alastair Price - £10
7 months ago Good luck!

Meriel Maddocks - £30
8 months ago

http://www.rossendalehare.co.uk

I am a sculptor, based in Lancashire with work spread from New Zealand and Hong Kong to Europe and America. Originally from the Netherlands, I trained at art colleges in London and Manchester. Most of my work starts with a story; I believe that, through stories, we make sense of the world, and we connect with one another.

In the year 2000 I moved to Lancashire and began to create sculptures in response to its history, landscape, and folklore. I placed these sculptures in the spaces they most resonate, in the landscape, parks and towns. I turned to working in steel, for which we have - in this county – the most up to date technology allowing sculptures to be created at almost any scale.

In 2008 I was commissioned by United Utilities to create a heron, which stands at the water's edge of Entwistle Reservoir, at 2.7metres tall. Made from galvanised steel it blends into the elements and is a treasured landmark for the local community.

Situated in Darwen’s Bold Venture Park, I recreated a Victorian parlour in response to the life of wallpaper designer James Huntington. It is a gigantic, playful feature irresistible to children, and a resting place appreciated by families and hikers on the climb up to Darwen Tower.

I examined the subject of familiars in “Dandy”, imagining the familiar spirit of James Device – one of the Pendle Witches - as a large wolf-like black dog. Sculpted in steel and 2 metres tall, it was installed in Clitheroe in May 2024, a new landmark for the town centre following a successful crowdfund campaign.

Sir Hare, at more than 3.5 m. in corten steel, is my largest piece thus far. It stood in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle for more than a year, in Gisburn Forest and until June '23 in Whitaker Park, Rossendale. It is currently a stunning sight for visitors to Wyresdale Park in The Forest of Bowland.

The hare, a once plentiful creature in the fields where I grew up, is now a priority species of local concern. I am fascinated by how present it is in our storylore. “Sir Hare” is one of the 77 names given to the creature in a late 13th Century middle English poem. Several Lancashire sources give us accounts of supernatural hares which shape-shift, speak to us and fill us with a sense of dread. We find them in the history of the Pendle Witches and in ‘The White Dobbie’, a ghost story from Morecambe Bay. It tells us of encounters with a Boggart, a ghostly figure who haunts the coastal roads, always accompanied by his hare-familiar.

Project Owner: Mid Pennine Arts The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.