Springlines: Exploring Hidden and Mysterious Bodies of Water

The idea for Springlines came from a walk on the South Downs in the drought of Spring 2012. The poet Clare Best and the artist Mary Anne Aytoun-Ellis went in search of pools of water that are concealed, overlooked or hidden. They found places and whole landscapes rich in history, wildlife, culture and myth. This book presents the work they made about some of those watery places, from dew ponds to ancient wells, clay-pits to furnace ponds, chalk springs to the man-made pools of Glyndebourne. Mary Anne's paintings sit with Clare's poetry, alongside short pieces by other writers, and water subjects drawn and painted by Cotman, Cristall, Edridge, Turner and others, to create a book that approaches some of the hidden corners of English landscape and celebrates the vitality of water. With contributions from Alison Brackenbury, Laura Coleman, Alexandra Harris, Alexandra Loske, Richard Mabey, Robert Macfarlane, Steve Marshall, Clare Whistler, Tim Wilcox.