Castles · West Midlands
The Sentinel
The Sentinel — Public artwork (sculpture) by Tim Tolkien.
Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence
Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 1.5 h–3 h
- Nearest railway station
- Erdington · 3.3 km
- Family-friendly
- Limited wheelchair access
About
The Sentinel is a place of interest in the United Kingdom. Wikidata describes it as: "Public artwork (sculpture) by Tim Tolkien.". Coordinates: 52.5134°, -1.7982°.
Photo gallery
Protected designations
- Site of Special Scientific Interest: River Blythe SSSI
Designations sourced from Natural England open data under OGL v3.
From the Wikipedia article
Sentinel (grid reference SP13789065) is a 16-metre-high (52 ft) sculpture by Tim Tolkien, installed upon Spitfire Island, a roundabout at the intersection of the Chester Road and the A47 Fort Parkway at the entrance to the Castle Vale estate in Birmingham, England. It is near Junction 5 of the M6 motorway and the present day Jaguar Cars plant (the former Castle Bromwich aircraft factory). It shows three Supermarine Spitfires peeling off up into the air in different directions. The half-scale Spitfires are made of aluminium, with curving steel supporting beams which act as vapour trails. It captures the dynamics of the Spitfire in flight and commemorates the nearby Castle Bromwich factory where most of Britain's wartime Spitfires were built. There are proposals to move the sculpture to a new site, near its current location, to allow for road widening.
Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.
Background
History
The award-winning project began in 1997 as part of the regeneration of Castle Vale estate. Using National Lottery funding, Tolkien was appointed as artist in residence. He consulted with Castle Vale residents about an art feature and found that they were inspired above all else by the area's air history, during World War II, and favoured a sculpture featuring Spitfires. The sculpture was opened on 14 November 2000. The sculptor is the great-nephew of J. R. R. Tolkien (the author of The Lord of the Rings, who grew up in Birmingham). The main commercial sponsors of the spitfire sculpture were from Jaguar, Rubery Owen Holdings and Cincinnati. Both Cincinnati and Rubery Owen Holdings made…
Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates
- 52.5134, -1.7982
- District
- Birmingham
- Parish
- Birmingham, unparished area
- Postcode
- B35 7ED
- Parliamentary constituency
- Birmingham Erdington
- Nearest railway station
- Erdington — 3.3 km
- Opening
- | restore =
Sources
- osm: n1110410931 (ODbL)
- wikipedia: Sentinel (sculpture) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- commons: Sentinel sculpture TimTolkien.jpg (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Frequently asked questions
- Where is The Sentinel?
- The Sentinel is in the West Midlands, United Kingdom (postcode B35 7ED), in the parish of Birmingham, unparished area.
- Is The Sentinel a protected site?
- Yes — The Sentinel is part of the River Blythe SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest.
- Does The Sentinel charge admission?
- The Sentinel typically charges admission. Check the official site for current ticket prices and opening hours.
- How do I get to The Sentinel?
- The nearest railway station is Erdington, about 3.3 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode B35 7ED.