The
Moonstones are a set of eight carved
sandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any color, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow,...
memorialA memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains ....
s to various members of the
Lunar SocietyThe Lunar Society was a dinner club and informal learned society of prominent industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 in Birmingham, England. At first called the Lunar Circle, "Lunar Society" became the formal name by 1775...
. Made in 1998, they can be viewed in the grounds of the
AsdaAsda is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, toys and general merchandise. They also have a mobile network, called Asda Mobile....
supermarketA supermarket, also called a grocery store in some parts of North America, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
in
QueslettQueslett is an area of Great Barr, Birmingham, England.The name has been in use since the 16th century. The first part means a Wood Pigeon, the second comes from the Anglo-Saxon for a small valley....
,
Great BarrGreat Barr is a large and loosely-defined area which straddles the boundaries of Birmingham, West Bromwich and Walsall, West Midlands, England...
,
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. They are visible from the road, when driving up Queslett Road from the Old Horns roundabout toward the Scott Arms.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Lunar Society Moonstones' Start a new discussion about 'Lunar Society Moonstones' Answer questions from other users |
The
Moonstones are a set of eight carved
sandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any color, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow,...
memorialA memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains ....
s to various members of the
Lunar SocietyThe Lunar Society was a dinner club and informal learned society of prominent industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 in Birmingham, England. At first called the Lunar Circle, "Lunar Society" became the formal name by 1775...
. Made in 1998, they can be viewed in the grounds of the
AsdaAsda is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, toys and general merchandise. They also have a mobile network, called Asda Mobile....
supermarketA supermarket, also called a grocery store in some parts of North America, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
in
QueslettQueslett is an area of Great Barr, Birmingham, England.The name has been in use since the 16th century. The first part means a Wood Pigeon, the second comes from the Anglo-Saxon for a small valley....
,
Great BarrGreat Barr is a large and loosely-defined area which straddles the boundaries of Birmingham, West Bromwich and Walsall, West Midlands, England...
,
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. They are visible from the road, when driving up Queslett Road from the Old Horns roundabout toward the Scott Arms.
Working from Aldridge Road round to Queslett Road, they depict eight members of the Society and attributes connected with their work:
- Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood was an English potter, credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery. A prominent abolitionist, Wedgwood is remembered for his "Am I Not A Man And A Brother?" anti-slavery medallion. He was a member of the Darwin-Wedgwood family...
: Portrait and three women from a Jasper ware design
- Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down the invitation of George III for him to be a Royal Physician. He was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, abolitionist, inventor and poet...
: Portrait and design for horizontal windmillA windmill is a machine which translates linear motion of wind to rotational motion by means of adjustable vanes called sails. The main use is for a grinding mill powered by the wind, reducing a solid or coarse substance into pulp or minute grains by crushing, grinding, or pressing...
- Samuel Galton: Colour wheel
- William Murdock
William Murdoch was a Scottish engineer and inventor. It is believed he Anglicised his name to Murdock when he moved to England....
: Steam road locomotiveRoad locomotive could refer to:* A type of traction engine, usually referring to those used for heavy haulage on common roads* A railway locomotive intended for hauling freight trains between terminals...
- Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton, FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines, which were a great advance on the state of the art, making possible the...
: Medal with his portrait
- James Watt
James Watt FRS was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both the Kingdom of Great Britain and the world.-Biography:James Watt was born on 19 January 1736 in Greenock,...
: Portrait and steam engineA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.The idea of using boiling water to produce mechanical motion has a long history, going back about 2000 years...
- Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...
: LaboratoryA laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
equipment
- James Keir
James Keir FRS was a Scottish chemist, geologist, industrialist, and inventor, and an important member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham.- Life and work :...
: CrystalA crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is crystallography...
s
- William Withering
William Withering was an English botanist, geologist, chemist, physician and the discoverer of digitalis.-Introduction:...
: Foxglove (with words from his book An Account of the Foxglove and some of its Medical Uses)
The stones also each have a phase of the moon carved on them, with Watt's being the full moon.
The designs are by Steve Field and were executed by two stone masons, Malcolm Sier and Michael Scheurmann.
Great Barr HallGreat Barr Hall is an 18th century mansion situated at Pheasey, Walsall, on the border with Great Barr, Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. It is, however, in a very poor state of repair and is on the Buildings at Risk Register.-History:In the mid-17th century,...
, Galton's home and a venue for meetings of the Lunar Society, is nearby.
External links