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If you’re walking through Teesdale on the Teesdale Way you’re bound to encounter – often when crossing a watercourse of some sort – pairs of what look like milk churns or chimney pots, split down the middle, usually rust-red in colour. Inscribed vertically on each is the name of the Teesdale parish for which it serves as a boundary marker. “Marking the Parish Boundaries” is a publicly-funded arts project commissioned by Teesdale District Council in 1996 at a cost of £70,000. The creator is sculptor Richard Wentworth. Its particular claim to fame is that it was the first public art project to be funded by the UK’s National Lottery.

From the top to the bottom of the dale (west to east) the inclusive parishes are: Middleton-in-Teesdale, Eggleston, Romaldkirk, Hunderthwaite, Cotherstone, Lartingon, Barnard Castle, Startforth, Marwood, Egglestone Abbey, Rokeby, Wycliffe, Westwick, Whorlton, Winston and Gainford. Often hiding in plain sight, the “chimney pots” are easy to miss but fun to find. No matter how many times I venture along the trail I always take pleasure in renewing my acquaintance with them though the Barnard Castle/Westwick and Whorlton/Winston pairs continue to elude me. If they still are – or ever were – in place and you happen to know where, please leave a comment.

Public art is ubiquitous these days so I find myself having to discriminate more than perhaps I’d like to. What connects me to “MTPB” apart from its installation on a trail I’ve undertaken to promote is its simplicity, practicality and educational qualities. It’s understated and sympathetically integrated into whichever environment you find it. It doesn’t demand attention but allows you to appreciate it on your own terms.

GALLERY

References

The 35 mm Slide. “Teesdale Way.” The 35mm Slide, 15 January 2013, https://the35mmslide.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/teesdale-way/. Accessed 08 July 2025.

Durham County Council. “Parish Markers.” I-See Public Art County Durham, no. 1973-2009, 2009. Durham County Council, http://www.durham.gov.uk/media/3804/i-see-public-artwork-County-Durham/pdf/ISeePublicArtworkCountyDurham.pdf. Accessed 08 July 2025.