Medal collection depicts Shropshire’s historic landmarks

Saturday 26th November 2011, 10:59AM GMT.

Ron Dutton with Mary Elliott

Some of Shropshire’s best loved landmarks feature in a new collection of medals which will be unveiled to the public next month.

Ron Dutton, one of the world’s leading medal makers, has brought to life five of the county’s most renowned ancient buildings.

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He said he had always loved Shropshire’s rolling countryside and spent 12 months visiting the five landmarks of Stokesay Castle, Buildwas Abbey, Wenlock Priory, Clun Castle and Ludlow Castle.

The series of medals, which depict architectural features in intricate detail, are double-sided sculptures and will be launched on December 3 at the Twenty Twenty Gallery in Much Wenlock.

Mary Elliott, who has developed the venue as a destination for rural art and craft in the West Midlands, said she had never come across medals in such a creative form before.

She said: “These limited edition Shropshire pieces are not only stunning to look at but they are meant to be picked up, moved around and examined in your hand.

“They are very tactile. By feeling and considering the images they portray you can conjure up thoughts of what it may have been like to live in these historic buildings.”

Mr Dutton, from Wolverhampton, is one of the leading craftsmen in the field, having hosted solo shows all over Britain, and his work has featured at many Royal Academy summer exhibitions.

“I had to absorb the atmosphere of the buildings, their settings and their relationships to their surroundings,” he said.

The medals, which are limited to 100 of each design, will be sold exclusively through Twenty Twenty Gallery where they will be on show throughout December and January. Visit www.twenty-twenty.co.uk