Marling is an on-going series of research and sculptural planting experiments by myself and gardener Fiona Parry, inspired by the history of dene holes, subterranean mythologies, and agricultural practices in Kent. It was a commission from Kent Downs National Landscape/SALT+ EARTH: Festival of Landscape, Seascape and The Environment in 2024.

It is believed that dene holes, ancient mines found throughout Kent, were dug for the extraction of subterranean chalk to marl soil. We used this as a theme to initiate research into the crops and forage crops grown historically in Kent, drawing on sources such as  “A  General View of the Agriculture of the County of Kent: with Observations on the Means of Its Improvement” by John Boys in 1794. We made planting experiments with crops and forage herbs traditionally grown in marled soils  and, in particular, clover and turnips. We also experimented with plants connected in mythology with the chthonic vegetation goddesses Demeter and Persephone, i.e.  wheat and pomegranates.

I made hand-sewn textile containers inspired by dene hole shafts dyed with oak gall and pomegranate. Fiona planted these with the forage plants in substrates which were either pure chalk, sand or earth, or mixes of these. All of these substrates are materials which would have been extracted when dene holes were dug. The chalk we used was spoil from excavated sites in Elham and Pett Bottom on the Kent Downs and the sand was salvaged builder’s sand, used as an equivalent of the Thanet Sand which sits on much of the Kent chalk strata.

The cloth containers ultimately faded and degraded as the plants developed, but most of the plants grew successfully, especially in the pure chalk, which we hadn’t anticipated. We now hope to develop these experiments to explore the beneficial properties and root structures of many of these chalk loving plants, which are increasingly being used again to protect and build soil health in regenerative agriculture.