Never Stumped for a Fruitful Idea: John Williams, Suffolk Wood Carver

 

John Williams at work on his current masterpiece

During April’s early morning walks, normally incorporating a wander through the beauties of the Abbey Gardens, I noticed that the cherry tree adjacent to a young olive tree, in the Gardens, close to the Cathedral, had presumably died and its main branches had been axed though the tall slender trunk was left standing. Intrigued, I returned from time to time, to check why it hadn’t been entirely chopped

Photo taken in early March as the carving
begins to emerge.

down, but merely emasculated as it were. One morning I could see why; someone had begun to carve it. Brilliant idea I thought, not then knowing, as a newcomer, that carvings by Suffolk wood carver, John Williams, were not entirely unknown in Bury!

Since then I have checked, several times a week, to marvel at the emerging carving, as fluidity and form grew from solid, static wood. I love wood in all its many forms and adaptations so here was a wonderful opportunity to watch the magic of a wood carving taking shape. I think it is now finished [July 18]; the protective railings have been removed, the awning has gone and much of the surplus slivers and slices from the carving, swept away. The carving itself is a celebration of Suffolk’s county flower, the Oxlip, a cousin I think to the cowslip though rather more aristocratic and certainly rare outside Suffolk. In fact the Oxlip is classed as near-threatened in Britain, and is rarely found outside of Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex.

The Oxlip growing from
the cherry tree stump

The wood sculptor is 83 year old John Williams and his current design includes the profile of a Green Man, an environmental guardian, presenting the Oxlip in cupped hands in a nod to Nathaniel Hudson who, in 1831, founded Bury’s Botanic Gardens, now known as the Abbey Gardens. This award-winning 14 acre park is on the site of a former Benedictine Abbey, once a power house of mediaeval England. The many beautiful Abbey ruins scattered in areas of the park are around 1000 years old so these two hundred year old gardens are set in a truly ancient landscape.

Mr Williams, who has been practising wood carving for a mere ten years, says: “I first came to the Abbey Gardens when I was eight years old and I really love the place. It is absolutely crucial to Bury. So the fact that I’m contributing something to a place I enjoy and appreciate is amazing and gives me a really lovely feeling.”

John Williams also produced a widely-admired wood sculpture in 2021 as part of the celebrations to mark the 1000 years of the Abbey of St Edmunds in Bury St Edmunds. It shows a variety of mediaeval pilgrims who came, through the centuries, to visit the shrine of St Edmund in the Abbey. John carved that sculpture [from pine donated by Nowton Park] in the Gardens opposite the Aviary, during six months of the Covid pandemic watched by many lone passers-by!

Nearly there! Early July, finishing to coincide with 
Bury in Bloom.

Mediaeval Pilgrims' carving 2021

 

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The Pilgrims’ sculpture reflected the contours of the ruins around it, particularly apt when the finished article was displayed on a plinth in the crypt of the ruins of the Abbey.

The Herbalist, an earlier work 
placed near the entrance to the herb garden
in the Abbey grounds near Angel Hill.