It has been 12 months in the making, and now Siam Gardens has been officially reopened with a new centrepiece and a new look.

All of the work in Weavers Piece – Siam Gardens – is related to the silk industry which still flourishes in Sudbury.

The tree carving represents a silk worker holding up skeins of silk. This was carved from the tree that was being suppressed by the yew tree and the position of the tree carving was determined by the branches and what could be made of them.

The structure in the garden is an interpretation on a loom. The weave pattern on the bottom was produced by Humphries Weaving for Watts Studio. This required the design to be interpreted from old black and white photographs. The back panel of the structure is intended to represent threads in the colours of the base pattern. This is made up of text which is only apparent on close inspection!

The structure was intended to be seen from outside the garden and to encourage, as with the tree carving, inquisitive visitors to come into the garden to see what is there. The back tiles include panels from Bulmer Brick and Tile and bird tiles from Smoke and Fire (Darsham).