SK9135 : The Orrery, Market Place, Grantham
taken 7 years ago, near to Grantham, Lincolnshire, England
As part of the refurbishment of Grantham Market Place, South Kesteven Council commissioned a sculpture.
The chosen scheme was related to the celestial work of Sir Isaac Newton and based on an orrery, a mechanical device showing the movement of the bodies forming the solar system. The artist, Paul Lewthwaite created two large objects, together with a series of supporting bronze plaques embedded in the paving. The two large objects represent a) the earth and moon orbiting each other, the relative scale of the two being correct, although not the distance between them, and b) Venus. Both of these have octagonal mounts, intended to reflect the octagonal base of the medieval market cross. This latter is treated as the centre of the system, with the Earth/Moon and Venus elements lined up on it.
In the paving around the latter two are a series of bronze plaques depicting specific astronomical phenomena related to Newton's work.
See Link for details, on the artist's website.