About Ellesmere Sculpture Initiative

Ellesmere local area
The distinctive landscape of northern Shropshire and southern Cheshire is partly characterised by many natural lakes – 'meres' – formed after the retreat of the ice sheet at the end of the last Ice Age. The Mere at Ellesmere is the largest of these.

History of the local area
Historically Ellesmere has been a meeting point It is the location of the conjunction of glacial movement where boulders from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales were deposited through the Ice Age leaving inland lakes and glacial deposits. It is a junction of the canal network, and was the starting point both physically and entrepreneurially for a canal to link to the Mersey, thus leading to the establishment of Ellesmere Port, for 19C transportation of materials. It is located in the historic Marches Borderland, part of a chain of fortification between England and Wales. Its landscape has been defined by these events.