“Poetically succinct diorama of the ambiguous spaces that we live in today”

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

After learning about the existence of these curiously primitive and imposing pieces of outdated surveillance equipment, which are still standing along stretches of England’s coast, artist Tim Bruniges recreated these interactive objects in a gallery setting. Earlier this year [2014], in an exhibition called MIRRORS at Brooklyn’s Signal gallery, Bruniges installed a pair of 9 by 9 foot sound mirrors that he constructed from wood and concrete with microphones embedded in their center. The sculptures faced each other to create an interactive sound experience for visitors to the cavernous gallery space.

More: Sound Mirrors Echo Obsolete Military Technology as Art Installation, Andrew Salomone, Makezine, 28 August 2014.

1/1200 scale model sound mirrors

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Although model trains are more my scene, last year I wandered along to the South East London Wargames Group show, where I acquired some Brigade Models 1/1200 scale sound mirrors.

The models are cast in lead-free white-metal. Here they are painted up, one with a vaguely Denge-like base, one with “grass”.

Model of a sound mirror

Model of a sound mirror

Inspired by Il Widna on Malta, I added representation of a concrete base and control room to the 200 ft mirror, and painted it in camouflage colours.

Model of 200 foot sound mirror

<odel of 200 foot sound mirror

You can order the models from Brigade Models: they are sets SSS-8001 Acoustic Mirror and SSS-8002 Listening Ears (pack of 2) in the “Small Scale Scenery” range.

2014 Denge sound mirrors open day date

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

The Romney Marsh Countryside Project’s 2014 “Echoes From The Sky Open Day” at the Denge listening mirrors near Dungeness in Kent is from 10.00 to 17.00 on Sunday 20 July 2014.

The RMCP events are the only way to visit the Denge mirrors. The events are always popular, and well worth going to.

An opportunity for residents and visitors to visit the site under your own steam. The RMCP will be present all day to talk you through them and help with any inquires … Suggested donation of £2 appreciated.

Full details are at the Romney Marsh Countryside Project website. Anyone planning to attend should confirm details with the RMCP before travelling.

Fan Hole sound mirrors archaeological dig

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Very exciting news – the Fan Bay Deep Shelter blog confirms that the Fan bay sound mirrors have been found!

On 3-4 May 2014 volunteers from the Dover Archaeological Group, the Canterbury Archaeological Trust and the National Trust dug several trenches to locate the mirrors, which have been buried since the 1970s. They found that “the Fan Hole sound mirror complex remains around 90% complete, preserved below dumped 1970s soil and rubble.”

Even better, “It looks likely that only fairly limited restoration work would be required to stabilise these structures and leave them open for permanent display”. For now, excavation has stopped until a topographical survey and planning application have been completed.

Visit Fan Hole sound mirrors: An archaeological dig for full details and photos.

Fan Bay sound mirrors found

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Exciting news: The National Trust are excavating the Fan Bay deep shelter near Dover, and “Part of the project seeks to uncover these [sound] mirrors, the survival of which would make the site nationally and possibly internationally significant.”

They have a website about the project.

A correspondent writes: “The locations of the two sound mirrors at Fan Bay near Dover have been positively identified in the past few weeks by a trial trench.”

BBC on Spurn

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

The Kilnsea sound mirror got a mention on the BBC website:

… One legacy of the raids is the sound mirror, which still stands in a field just outside the village.

The large concave concrete dish acted as a primitive radar, amplifying engine sounds from distant Zeppelins so they could be heard by an operator, who would then send an air-raid warning inland by radio.

Source: World War One: Spurn Point’s military relics at sea’s mercy, 28 February 2014

(note that despite what the article says, the Spurn railway was standard gauge)

Syd Arthur’s Sound Mirror

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

The second album from Canterbury psych-rock quartet Syd Arthur is called Sound Mirror, and features the Abbot’s Cliff acoustic mirror on its cover.

Sound Mirror album by Syd Arthur

“From the tantalizing ‘Garden Of Time’ to the prophetic ‘Sink Hole,’ ‘Sound Mirror’ expands and refines Syd Arthur’s already uncommon sonic multiverse into a brave new space where focus and concision is as essential as freewheeling abstraction and genre-shattering creativity”, apparently.

Sound Mirror will be released through Harvest Records on 2 June 2014.

Sunderland sound mirror restoration

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

As part of the Defended Land project, Beaumont Brown Architects is undertaking conservation work to repair and present the sound mirror at Fulwell in Sunderland. It is working with Sunderland City Council, English Heritage and Limestone Landscapes to restore the structure and provide information and access to it.


Beaumont Brown Architects hopes this “will help explain this forgotten but vital part in the defence of our shores and bring a greater understanding of the peril that the people who lived and worked there faced.”

The Mirror is one of the few surviving WWI early warning devices designed to provide alert of impending attacks from ships and Zeppelins on North East industrial complexes and the eastern seaboard from the Tyne to the Humber. They were often located in pairs to provide triangulation to achieve a better position of the attacker. The Fulwell mirror is orientated towards the sky and its purpose is primarily the detection of aerial attack. It is one of the Coastal Watcher type or Track Plotting Mirrors and similar in design to the Redcar and Boulby Mirrors though Boulby’s construction technique differs slightly.

Source: Beaumont Brown Architects, 12th May 2013


In January 2014 Beaumont Brown Architects were interviewed about the sound mirror by BBC Newcastle’s Jo Lonsdale, one of the producers of a new series World War One At Home which will look at how the Great War affected life at home.