Northumberland’s ‘Lady of the North’ captured in stunning new drone images
New drone photography has highlighted the scale of 'Lady of the North,' a massive land sculpture in Northumberland created from former mining waste. The project, designed by artist Charles Jencks, requires annual maintenance by a specialized landscaping team to preserve the contours of the reclining female figure.
Why it matters
The sculpture serves as a prominent example of land reclamation, demonstrating how industrial brownfield sites can be repurposed into large-scale, evolving environmental art.
New drone images have captured the scale of the “Lady of the North”, a vast land sculpture in Northumberland that is recognised as the world’s largest land sculpture of the female form. Spanning around a quarter of a mile and rising more than 100 feet, the artwork transforms a former mining landscape into a striking living landmark.Known as the “Lady of the North”, the sculpture depicts a reclining female figure and was created using around 1.5 million tonnes of rock and soil left behind by the now-defunct Shotton Surface Mine in Northumberland.The project was conceived by artist Charles Jencks, with plans beginning in 2004. Construction was completed in 2010.Rather than remaining a static monument, the sculpture was designed as a “living landscape”.
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