The ''Solar Pyramid'' was a proposed sculpture originally scheduled to open in June 2003 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

was to have been the UK's largest

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, the world's biggest functioning

timepiece A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and the ...

, and the world's largest

sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...

. The sculpture, originally planned for a site in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, and later one in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, failed to attract sufficient finance or public support to be constructed. The design consisted of three towers, or

gnomon A gnomon (; ) is the part of a sundial that casts a shadow. The term is used for a variety of purposes in mathematics and other fields. History A painted stick dating from 2300 BC that was excavated at the astronomical site of Taosi is the ol ...

s, which leaned together to create an illusion of a

Design

According to the project's website the pyramid was to comprise "three highly polished stainless steel leaning blade-like towers, which cast a shadow onto an enormous elliptical sundial base, telling the date and time". The towers would not meet at the apex, but create "a shifting illusion of a pyramidal structure". The towers were to be clad in "reflective, mirror polished and green-coloured, stainless steel" to reflect light and capture movement. One tower was to have "a locational latitude of 53.25 degrees and is orientated due south to function in a similar, but more scientifically sophisticated manner, to that of the gnomon of an immense sundial". The tower would cast a shadow on a sixty-metre elliptical base. The remaining towers were to be aligned to the extremes of sunrise and sunset.

Derbyshire site

In 2002, it was announced that construction of the sculpture, designed by Richard Swain and Adam Walkden would be commenced at Poolsbrook, near

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

. A scale model of the sculpture was exhibited at the

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. The site, near the

M1 Motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which lat ...

, was to be visible to 45,000 motorists an hour. Completion was expected by June 2003. Eventually, work on the foundations commenced in January 2004, and it was announced that it was expected to have the sculpture in place by the time of the

Autumn Equinox Autumnal equinox or variations, may refer to: * September equinox, the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere * March equinox, the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere Other uses * Autumnal Equinox Day (Japanese: 秋分の日, ''Shūbu ...

on 22 September of that year. By December 2005, there was little progress, with a completion date of Summer 2006 given. By September 2007, work had still not started, mainly due to financial problems. It was hoped that construction would finally begin in Spring of the following year, with completion about nine months later. However, in November 2007, the Derbyshire site was abandoned. Instead, it was decided to build a sculpture near

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

in Dorset.

"Moments in Time"

In February 2006, the ''Solar Pyramid'' website began the sale of "Moments in Time" to the public. For £49.75 the purchaser received a certificate of ownership of "a chosen one-minute slot at a date and time that carries special significance for them". A numbered plaque marking the minute would also be affixed to the floor of the planned sundial.

Dorset site

Negotiations with

Poole Borough Council Poole Borough Council was the unitary authority responsible for local government in the Borough of Poole, Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 1997 following a review by the Local Government Commission for England (1992), becoming adminis ...

began in November 2007. The project had the support of Poole Tourism Partnership. The scheme for the sculpture was opened to public consultation in December 2007, but the response was overwhelmingly negative. In January 2008, Poole Borough Council announced they would not be going ahead, partly due to "unanswered questions about adequate funding". The council's leader issued a statement explaining the decision:

"...no taxpayers' money will be invested in the delivery of this proposal and at this stage, Solar Pyramid Ltd has not been able to provide the necessary evidence of costs and funding for the Council to proceed with the assessment work with sufficient confidence. I will therefore be instructing the Council's Chief Executive to make arrangements to withdraw from discussions with Solar Pyramid Ltd."

All references to Poole were quickly removed from the project website.

Winding up of company

According to documents lodged with the

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, the directors of the company resigned and an application for a voluntary striking off the register was made in June 2009. The final notice indicating that the company had been voluntarily dissolved appeared in the ''

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'' in September 2009.

References

{{coord missing, Dorset Proposed buildings and structures in England Outdoor sculptures in England Pyramids in Europe Buildings and structures in Derbyshire Culture in Derbyshire History of Derbyshire History of Dorset Sundials Steel sculptures in England