Droves & Downs
28th February – 7th June 2026
Droves & Downs – a major art exhibition produced by Dorset Visual Arts – is now open at the Museum of East Dorset, bringing together photography, drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture inspired by the remarkable landscape of Cranborne Chase National Landscape.
In 2025, artists were invited to submit proposals to explore the different facets of the Chase’s ecology and heritage: meadows, river systems and byways, as well as aspects of its communities, human history and importance now as a National Landscape.
Annabel Beasley, Siân Cann, Richard Gregory and Tonia Gunstone were awarded bursaries by Dorset Visual Arts to create new works and spent the summer of 2025 researching their chosen areas, delving into this precious landscape with support from Cranborne Chase National Landscape officers and advisors.
As well as exploring both individual and collective stories of the Chase, the artists were encouraged to develop new approaches to their practice informed by the unique features of this secluded area. The distinctive landscape of the Chase, criss-crossed by droves, chalk streams and ancient Roman roads, has long captivated artists. Its surreal Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age monuments, interspersed with isolated groves, woods and dry valleys, has inspired figures such as John Craxton, Stanley Spencer and Elizabeth Frink.
Having been shown at Shaftesbury Arts Centre in autumn 2025, we are excited to present the work at Museum of East Dorset in its new iteration. Admission to the exhibition is included in the museum’s standard entry fee.
Meet the artists
Annabel Beasley
While capturing the enchanting beauty and undeniable spirituality of the Cranborne Chase landscape, Annabel discovered scenery reminiscent of nostalgic fairytales and folklore with an underlying liminal atmosphere that exists within rural British countryside. These threads of hidden stories can be found woven throughout her images. The portraits were made within the community, primarily with volunteers working on practical conservation. Their knowledge of the area and the stories they shared have helped Annabel further understand the relationship between people and nature, which she often explores within her photographic practice.
Siân Cann
Siân’s alternative and analogue photographic practice is focused on revealing surprising and elemental stories of landscape. Through a unique and immersive approach, she explored the rare chalk stream ecosystems of the Cranborne Chase National Landscape, creating a series of ‘watergrams’ directly in the waters of the rivers Allen and Ebble. These cameraless photographs document the patterns created by the flowing water, revealing a visual poetry of the chalk streams that has perhaps never been seen before. Whilst usually created in a darkroom, Siân was able to use the Dark Sky Status of the Chase to make these watergrams in situ at night, using the dark sky as a natural darkroom. She then made a further series of works capturing moments from the original watergrams on Polaroid film and transferring those delicate images to paper to highlight the ethereal nature of the crystal clear waters. Through her creative explorations, she has found awe and wonder in abundance throughout the Chase, and hopes that this is translated in the pieces, inspiring a renewed appreciation for our precious local microcosms.
Richard Gregory
Richard brings his practice of drawing, installation and digital work to Cranborne Chase National Landscape. Here he reflects on the delicacies and vulnerability of England’s contemporary rural spaces, using the landscape as a frame for thoughts about heritage, belonging and the perception and meaning of boundaries. Richard discovers and makes through walking and loitering, documenting through photography and list making. Drawing is central to his studio-focused methodology for creating end works that often have an unusual perspective or map-like quality. He is a member of the Arts University Bournemouth Drawing Research Group and a founding member of twenty3 art collective.
Tonia Gunstone
Tonia is a Wiltshire-based visual artist who is interested in wilderness. Rooted in landscape, her work is elemental and largely abstract in nature. She aims to express how it feels to connect to a particular place, a sensation she finds amplified in wide, open landscapes or ancient woodland. Her work evolves organically and usually begins with a walk. For the Droves & Downs project, Tonia has explored one wooded and one open location: Mistlebury Wood and Win Green. She found herself drawn to the atmosphere of these ancient sites and the generations of footprints treading the same paths that she has walked, invisible boundaries from which information was collected both during the summer days and nights. Photographs, drawings and a collection of small objects of interest have all informed the work you see here. She invites you to step into these landscapes, to sense their atmosphere, glimpse their hidden histories, and feel the passage of time beneath your feet.
Droves & Downs: In Conversation
9th April 2026, 5:30pm-8pm
Join us at the Museum of East Dorset for a special evening celebrating Droves & Downs.
Droves & Downs: In Conversation offers a rare opportunity to experience the exhibition after hours, before settling in for an engaging artist panel discussion. This is your chance to hear directly from the exhibiting artists about how they approached the project, and how the extraordinary landscape of Cranborne Chase National Landscape has shaped and inspired the works on display.
Enjoy a free drink on arrival, take time to explore the exhibition, and gain deeper insight into the creative processes behind the show.
