Duke’s Hagg Wood

Wild Museum researches and develops arts and heritage programmes that work with an ancient wood outside Prudhoe, in Northumberland. Duke’s Hagg Wood is 33 and a half acres of woodland, and is co-owned/managed by Wild Museum’s John Coburn.

From one-off R&D to multi-year funded projects, we work with local communities and professionals from across arts & heritage, technology and environmental sectors. We create new types of cultural heritage project that respond more imaginatively to the past, present & future of Place, and the evolving natural world within it.

Lead producer: John Coburn

Contributing artists & researchers to date: Jorge Boehringer, Paul Dolan, Sneha Solanki, Tim Shaw, SLOP, Hazel Soper, John Clayson

Partners to date: Arts Council England, Historic England, Newcastle University, National Trust, North East Museums, Northumbria University, Stomping Grounds

Duke’s Hagg is an ancient woodland.

220 years ago it was home to coal mines and wagonways. It sits on the former grounds of a mental health institution. It’s home to Stomping Grounds North East, and thousands of young people access specialist education there every year, some of whom participate in our projects.

Our onsite activity with partners includes:

  • Quarterly research and practice development workshops

  • Artist and researcher microresidencies

  • Temporary exhibitions, installations and public events

This activity informs partnership and project development.

  • Artist Sneha Solanki’s ‘Duke’s Hagg Column’ as part of her micro-residency with Newcastle University.

  • Storm damage. Duke’s Hagg Collective works with fallen timber for installations including this stargazing pavilion.

  • Historical image of the mental health hospital and grounds on Duke’s Hagg boundaries. We prioritise neurodiverse participants in our public programmes.

  • R&D workshop with researchers and artists exploring the notions of native and invasive species at Duke’s Hagg.

  • Participatory workshop sonifying trees as transmitters/receivers for radio.

  • Walking workshop of the industrial infrastructures reclaimed by the ancient woodland over 150 years.

  • R&D day with North East Museums and university researchers exploring the geology and prehistoric biologies of the site.

  • Tellurics experiments with regional researchers, tuning into the earth’s energy.

  • Excavating the social and industrial identities of a woodland with historians and local residents.

  • Quarterly workshop day with researchers, artists and funders, supporting development of long term projects at Duke’s Hagg.

  • Loudspeakers on a public footpath sharing live sounds of Duke’s Hagg hidden streams, tunnels and disappeared industrial heritage.

  • Tim Shaw’s sound artwork within birch plantations created as part of a micro residency weekend.

  • Following a micro residency, Slop hosted a pop-up exhibition of contemporary sculptural, digital and audio artwork.

“My mind was blown by the invisible indentities of this place. Woodlands can feel like peaceful and remote places. But how we followed the ancient paths, tapped the electrical currents, the enzymes and mycelium and bird calls, the digital information we tuned into, always surging beneath our feet and above our heads. Knowing the injustice of who was and wasn’t allowed into places like this. These are places of noise and energy and humanity and confusion and bliss. They change. They connect us to each other and to the wider world. And to thousands of years of people”
— Workshop participant