A NEW venture at Witley Court, the ruined Victorian mansion north of Malvern, comes to fruition on Tuesday, August 1, with the opening of the Jerwood Sculpture Park.

A joint venture between English Heritage and the Jerwood Foundation, it will provide a showcase for the imposing bronze men and monumental heads of Elisabeth Frink, the works of established modern British sculptors such as Michael Ayrton and Antony Gormley, and for the works of talented new sculptors from the West Midlands.

Elisabeth Frink rose to prominence during the 1970s as Britain's most celebrated public sculptor, whose commissions include the eagle lectern at Coventry Cathedral, the horse and rider in Piccadilly and the Madonna outside Salisbury Cathedral.

The works to be shown at Witley Court range from Judas of 1963 to a Desert Head of 1989. Taken together, they reveal the depths of the theme Frink made her own - the masculine identity.

Two In Memoriam heads of 1981 express man's calm resilience, strength and maturity in the face of aggression. With this development came the possibility of an alternative masculine ideal expressed works such as Standing Man (1984) and Seated Man (1986).

The Frinks are being lent by her son, the artist Lin Jammet, and come from the Dorset estate where she worked until her untimely death in 1993. They will make for startling and powerful encounters in Witley Court's landscape of lawns, formal beds, rhododendron walks, woodland and lakes.

Lin Jammet said: "My mother believed that every eminent artist owed it to younger artists to make themselves and their work accessible. We had a constant stream of art and student groups coming to visit us in Dorset while she was alive.

"I know she would be delighted that this unique exhibition will attract visitors from all over the World."