this multiplied the technical difficulties involved in
design and construction. The retaining walls are
built from a soft sandstone from Stoke Hill Quarry,
the same source used in the building of the Town
Hall. The machine which cut the blocks at the quarry
could be programmed to cut them to the necessary
radii. Every block was numbered before delivery
to the site. When it came to the paving, the Stoke
Hill stone was insufficiently durable, so slabs were
sourced from Johnston’s Quarry, Huddersfield, the
last in the country which uses traditional cutting
techniques. Most of the paving is Rockingston Hard
stone, which has an attractive iron staining. It was
shot-sawn to create a ridged texture. However, this
material could not be used for the tighter radii in the
central area because the iron banding would have
looked odd. It was substituted by Crossland Hill
stone which is similar in colour and was supplied by
the same company.
In the Town Square, beyond the curve of the balus-
trade, quality of materials was still a concern, but
most of the area was laid with granite setts. Where
stone slabs have been laid, they mark access
routes. Although some of these followed curves,
it was felt that the radii were not sufficiently tight
to require special cutting at the quarry, and the
changes were taken up with wedge-shaped pieces
of stone. As Jill Ray commented, ‘It was considered
too expensive to cut these slabs to a radius, and
so far out from the central feature it was no longer
necessary.’^10The majority of the setts are pale grey with the
addition of some buffs, pinks and dark greys. It is
the same mix of setts which was used in the repav-
ing of nearby Fargate. Following a construction
technique used in Warrington, the sets are laid on
a macadam base, bedded in a cement slurry which
is then squeegeed in. After the paving was laid, it
was covered with sawdust for 14 days to clean the
surface.It is the distinctive contributions of the artists which
create the unique character of the gardens. The
exaggerated curved forms were not part of the orig-
inal concept but evolved through the interchange of
ideas. The large rounded copings around the lawns
had a practical purpose. They were designed to be
comfortable as seats. Rounding the edges would
also make them less attractive to skateboarders
who like to grind along sharp edges. The water
vessels clearly had to be large and rounded if they
were to echo steelmaking crucibles. According to
Lyn Mitchell, the detailed forms used in the gardens
were the result of a long process; ‘The artists came
up with lots and lots of ideas and we had huge
meetings and they could be tough going. We came
up with a short list of objects to be designed by art-
ists and they came up with a family of objects based