A traditional red K6 telephone box in the village of Damerham in Hampshire has become a micro art gallery. Loïs Cordelia is one of three artists commissioned by Culture in Common to create a temporary art installation that evokes a 'sense of place'. This installation will initially run from Monday 3rd November 2025, and will remain in situ until mid January 2026.



Loïs took her inspiration from Damerham's wealth of history and heritage. A rotating multi-storey 'book-shelf' plinth is decorated with scenes of local landmarks and portraits of notable people, going back more than a thousand years to King Alfred. Damerham is mentioned in the Domesday Book.

Presiding over the installation is a hand-sculpted three dimensional miniature figurine of the Anglo-Saxon queen Aethelflaed (pronounced 'ath-el-flad', likely meaning 'noble beauty'). Daughter of King Alfred 'the Great' and a legendary warrior queen in her own right, she is sometimes known as Aethelflaed of Damerham. Some historians believe she was born in Damerham, while others believe that the village was given to her later in her life, but in any case she is certainly linked with the location. Historians are divided on whether, as a woman, Aethelflaed actually led her army on the battlefield, but historical sources appear to refer to her doing so. Taking after her father, she was a remarkable strategist and played a formative role in uniting the peoples who would soon become the 'English'.

The plinth is covered with imagery relating to Damerham. Landmarks include St George's Church, Glastonbury Abbey, the Damerham Beacon, and the Compasses Inn pub, each one painted to make use of the illusion of perspective created by the intersecting wooden panels of the 'bookshelf' plinth. Portraits include Lord and Lady Coote, loosely based on the original pair of portraits that hang in the Village Hall - the couple gave the Village Hall to the people of Damerham. Other emblems include the Hampshire sheep breed and the wild dog rose (reminiscent of the Tudor Rose), which is the County Flower of Hampshire.

Location: What3Words https://w3w.co/directors.charted.boots