Restless Temple Webcam, Cornwall

The Restless Temple Webcam looks up at one of the oddest pieces of outdoor art in Cornwall: a roofless classical temple whose cedar columns are built to sway in the wind. It stands on the lawn at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, a valley garden near Gulval, just northeast of Penzance. Fluted columns rise above a dense bank of shrubs in the foreground, each topped with a square capital and a small pitched cap, and the bare branches of a tree reach up behind them. On a calm day the colonnade looks like an ancient ruin. In a Cornish gale the whole structure rocks and leans with the gusts.

About the Restless Temple

The Restless Temple is a kinetic sculpture by the artist Penny Saunders, who began working on the idea around 2000. It took about 15 years of research and planning before the structure was installed at Tremenheere in 2015, built by Cornish craftspeople. Fourteen hollow cedar columns make up the frame. Each one is a light timber shell wrapped around a core of tensioned steel, and concrete counterweights buried under the lawn keep the whole thing balanced, so the temple can lean up to 45 degrees in winds of around 97 kilometers per hour (60 mph). Saunders has described the piece as being “about flexibility in the face of the mighty forces of Nature”, with pendulums interacting with a temple that stands for a western civilization “now teetering on the edge”. In August 2018 The Guardian named it one of the 10 best outdoor art installations in the world.

The weather has tested it. The YouTube channel behind this camera says one column broke on the day the UK left the European Union, January 31, 2020, after more than five years of fierce Cornish storms, and the temple stood still while it was renovated. Tremenheere has since announced its return to full swaying movement. The stream has run since May 2021, and the gardens link to it from their own page about the sculpture.

The Restless Temple Webcam sits on lower ground, so the temple fills the upper middle of the picture with open sky behind it. A patch of mown lawn shows at the lower left, trees close in along the left edge, and the shrubs in the foreground hide the base, although the dark steel frame under the columns shows through the gaps. A date and time stamp runs along the top of the picture.

Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens fill a sheltered valley with woods and a stream, looking out over Mount’s Bay toward St Michael’s Mount. The land was overgrown when Dr. Neil Armstrong bought it in 1997, and the gardens opened in 2012. They now cover 22 acres (8.9 hectares) of exotic and sub-tropical planting threaded with permanent artworks. The temple has the most public spot of all, on the lawn above the gallery, kitchen, shop and nursery, about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) northeast of Penzance railway station.

Weather and Climate at the Restless Temple

Winters here are mild and wet. Long-term records from Penlee Gardens in Penzance put average January highs at 9.6°C (49°F) and lows at 4.4°C (40°F), and the town collects about 1,094 millimeters (43 inches) of rain a year. Reanalysis data for the gardens puts the wettest spell from October through January. Windy days are when the columns move most, so a stormy forecast is the best reason to check the Restless Temple Webcam.

Summers are gentle rather than hot. July and August average highs of about 20°C (68°F), with nights around 13°C (55°F), and October still reaches 15.1°C (59°F) by day. Penzance logs about 1,732 hours of sunshine a year. On the camera, late spring and summer bring the shrubs in the foreground into full leaf, while in late autumn the tree behind the temple drops its leaves and leaves bare branches against the sky.

Things to Do Near the Restless Temple

The gardens say the temple can be viewed without going into the gardens themselves, but a garden ticket opens the rest of the sculpture trail. James Turrell’s Skyspace was the first permanent work installed, and his Aqua Obscura turns a disused Victorian water tank into an underground camera obscura. Billy Wynter’s Camera Obscura, in its own circular building, gives a 360-degree view of the garden. David Nash’s Black Mound is a charred oak work, Kishio Suga’s Untitled (2001) is a row of logs rebuilt in larch in 2017, and Abigail Reynolds has new work in the Garden of Peace. The gardens open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in season and close for a winter break after early November.

St Michael’s Way, a pilgrim route of about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from Lelant to Marazion, passes the gardens on its way down to the coast. Beyond Ludgvan walkers can head straight for Marazion or take a longer line by way of Gulval, and roughly a third of the route shares its path with the South West Coast Path. It ends at the causeway to St Michael’s Mount, the island the gardens look out over, about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) southeast of the temple. Penzance town center lies under 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) to the southwest.

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Questions fréquemment posées

Where is the Restless Temple located?

It stands at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens near Gulval, just northeast of Penzance in west Cornwall, England. The temple is on the lawn above the gardens’ gallery, kitchen, shop and nursery, about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) from Penzance railway station.

What can you see on the Restless Temple Webcam?

The camera looks up at the temple’s fluted cedar columns above a bank of shrubs, with a patch of lawn at the lower left and a tree behind. On a windy day, watch the column tops against the sky to see the structure lean.

Who made the Restless Temple?

The artist Penny Saunders designed it. It was installed at Tremenheere in 2015 after about 15 years of planning.

Why does the Restless Temple move?

Its 14 hollow cedar columns have tensioned steel cores and sit on concrete counterweights underground, so winds of around 97 kilometers per hour (60 mph) can tilt the temple by up to 45 degrees.

What is the weather like at the Restless Temple?

Mild and often wet. Penzance averages highs of 9.6°C (49°F) in January and 20.1°C (68°F) in August, with about 1,094 millimeters (43 inches) of rain a year. Autumn and winter storms are when the temple sways most.

Do you need a ticket to see the Restless Temple?

Tremenheere says the temple can be seen without going into the gardens. A garden ticket covers the rest of the sculpture trail, including the James Turrell works.

How far is the Restless Temple from St Michael’s Mount?

About 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) in a straight line, northwest of the island. The St Michael’s Way footpath links the two, ending at the causeway to the Mount near Marazion.

Source: RestlessTempleLIVE