Heritage Stag

Sculpture details

Artist: Alan Williams
Year: 2024
Commission: Morgan Signs & Designs for Hall & Woodhouse
Project type: Site-specific commercial sculpture and signage
Location: Hall & Woodhouse, Crowthorne; permanent outdoor display
Dimensions: H 150 × W 75 × D 120 cm (sculpture)
Materials: Reclaimed car clutches and wheel rims, motorbike handlebars, forged steel tube and retired tools
Finish: Galvanised, painted and lacquered with a weathered-rust appearance
Installation: Concealed below-ground frame bolted to a concrete foundation
Status: Sold; on permanent public display

Heritage Stag 2004 - metal sculpture created by artist Alan Williams in Sussex

metal garden sculptures created by Alan Williams metal sculpture artist

The Heritage Stag commission

The Heritage Stag was commissioned in 2024 by Morgan Signs & Designs for Hall & Woodhouse in Crowthorne. Alongside the stag, Alan was asked to create the pub’s signage, also using reclaimed metal.

The brief drew on the area’s hunting history and its links with the automotive industry. Car parts therefore had a particular connection to the setting. Alan built the stag’s body from car wheel rims and clutches, using their curves and mechanical shapes to form something recognisably alive.

The aim was to keep the character of the original components visible. What had once belonged to vehicles and machinery became the body, antlers and legs of a deer, while the finished work still gave away something of its former life when viewed closely.

Forging, finishing and installation

The head and neck use car clutches, and the body brings together wheel rims and clutches. The antlers combine forged steel tube with motorbike handlebars; retired tools and steel tubing form the legs. Alan also used car clutches and retired tools in the associated signage.

Shaping the large wheel rims was one of the main challenges. They were heated with a large oxy-propane torch and bent into shape using metalworking dogs. This part of the work needed two people to handle and form the hot steel.

The sculpture was made for permanent outdoor display. It was galvanised, acid-washed to key the surface, undercoated, painted and lacquered. Areas were darkened with a propane flame to give the finished deer the appearance of rusted metal, without relying on an exposed rust finish.

The stag sits on a concealed framework bolted to a concrete pad. Turf covers the gap around the installation, so the sculpture appears to stand directly on the grass while remaining securely anchored beneath it.