Creative Kernow
Revealing Fortress Cornwall – Cornwall’s Regimental Museum
2020 marks exactly 80 years since the fall of France in June 1940 posed a very real threat of invasion of Britain. In response to this threat, the British Government rapidly constructed many physical defences along our coastline and while some of these structures have been re-purposed and others are acknowledged through interpretive signage, many are long-forgotten and half-hidden by encroaching nature. They are not valued in the same way as other built heritage in the landscape and our attitude towards them is often ambivalent. Their time is still within living memory, their Brutalist architecture ugly, and they are often not viewed as structures of true historic interest. This project will involve people in unearthing, exploring and sharing the stories of an initial selection of 10 of these structures along the Cornish coast and creating an online map of the sites and their stories. It will provide opportunities for people of all ages to work with photographic artist Mark Pearson (www.markpearson.co,.uk) and contribute their own photographic images to a digital platform. Mark Pearson will also create large-scale photographic works of the 10 sites which will be exhibited at the museum in September 2020 as part of the ‘Island Fortress’ exhibition.