(Cover image, drone footage of the whole Beuys’ Acorns site, photo courtesy of Borough of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk)
Artists Ackroyd & Harvey led a lively evening talk and discussion at King’s Lynn Town Hall on 11 June, to celebrate King’s Lynn’s participation in their international project Beuys’ Acorns. We heard about the new circle of oaks at Harding’s Pits and what this planting means for the local community.
The discussion panel included associate artist Johann Don-Daniel and composer Stevie Wishart of Greenland Music, and was chaired by Veronica Sekules, Director of GroundWork Gallery.
Everyone was welcome!
We were joined by local residents, artists, musicians and writers, historians, people living close to Harding’s Pits Doorstep Green, ecologists, nature-lovers, young people, students, parents, and everyone in between. The venue is fully accessible and there will be a British Sign Language interpreter present.
The Story So Far
On Tuesday 4th March 2025, British artists Ackroyd & Harvey planted a circle of seven oaks on Harding’s Pits public space. The circle is part of a national art project that celebrates the cultural, biological and climatic significance of trees in a rapidly urbanising world.
Inspired by Joseph Beuys
In 1982, Beuys planted oaks across Kassel, Germany, in an effort to reconnect the community to nature, after the city was heavily bombed in the second world war and rapidly reconstructed. Ackroyd & Harvey collected acorns from the trees in Kassel in 2007, and have since nurtured them into over one hundred thriving young trees to be planted across the UK.
17 Oak Circles to be planted across the UK
A total of 17 oak circles will be planted in urban public spaces across the UK. Harding’s Pits is one of the first sites to be planted, in partnership with GroundWork Gallery and Harding’s Pits Community Association, and supported by Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk.
Deeply rooted in people and place
The trees have been planted on a recently extended area of Harding’s Pits ‘Doorstep Green’, an open space where there are plans to add footpaths, seating, a wildflower meadow and more. This is a space for people to reconnect, slow down, meander, play, and imagine. The artists hope to foster a sense of reciprocal care and stewardship between the trees and the people of King’s Lynn.
Creative workshops for everyone
To welcome the trees into their new home, Ackroyd & Harvey and associate artists Johann Don-Daniel and Stevie Wishart of Greenland Music are holding a series of creative workshops with local groups, including: Harding’s Pits Community Association, Whitefriars Primary Academy,
Lynn Museum
