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‘Well known sculptor, Phil Bews, is desperate for a tail’ - so ran an appeal in the local papers and on the newly formed Forest of Dean radio, back in November 2001.

But despite some promising leads no one came up with one in time for the official unveiling of the Taurus Bull which was to be in the following January. It needed to be a strongly curved piece of Forest of Dean oak, at least one and a half metres long. Defeated in the search for a single piece of oak, this very important appendage was eventually constructed in two parts and grafted on the bull’s rump to complete a landmark piece of sculpture.
 

Appropriately the bull is constructed from discarded boughs of oak sourced from the Lydney Park Estate and stands in the front field of Taurus, at the western gateway to Lydney. It weighs three-and-a-half tons, is a full four metres tall, and each foot stands on a huge sunken block of concrete.

For almost three months the developing sculpture was encased in scaffolding. A lorry load of huge logs, carefully selected by Phil for their potential to become the backbone, body, legs, head and horns of the bull, was carted to the site. Phil gradually brought the Bull to life by shaping the logs with a chainsaw and finishing with a chisel. The formed ‘backbone’, weighing almost half a ton, was suspended from mighty crossbars and then the legs, body and head developed from there. Whilst the oak logs were still at ground level, local children were invited to take part in several surface relief wood carving workshops and the results of their endeavours can now be seen on the legs of the Bull.

Throughout the construction, the feet of the Bull never touched the ground! In fact, the four concrete block bases were cast in situ to a depth of 60cm below soil level and a further 30cm above soil level. Stainless steel fixing plates were attached, and the bull was carefully lowered into its final resting place. The surrounding field was finally soiled-up to the level of the Bull’s feet.

This is the second bull that Phil has built at Taurus Crafts. The first was of a temporary nature and met its pre-destined end in a wave of controversy. Phil has a local, and indeed national, reputation for creating and choreographing spectacular Fire Sculpture events. And his first bull was sacrificed in the service of just such a magical performance. Indeed, it was the protests at the burning of this bull that gave rise to the creation of the permanent bull sculpture.

Local MP Diana Organ officially ‘unveiled’ the Bull to the accompaniment of a specially commissioned recording, created by local artist Elise Hurcombe, of a mix of rhythmic beating drums and a deeply resonant trombone - redolent of galloping hooves and the bellowing of angry bulls.

As the name Taurus suggests, the Bull plays a central role in the imagery of the centre. The huge solitary animal standing within the field expresses the raw power and sheer force of the living environment. Harnessing and harmonising these forces into creative design, healthy living and social renewal is the self-confessed objective of Taurus Crafts.

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