IN the highly skilled hands of Hampshire sculptor, Caroline Dear, an anonymous lump of rock undergoes a remarkable transformation from a piece of rough stone to a creation of great beauty.

Today the strength of Caroline’s work and her reputation as a highly talented artist means her sculpture is in great demand for both public and private collections.

Over the years Caroline has honed her remarkable talent, undertaking commissions which have taken her right across the UK working for the Common-wealth War Graves Commission, and church dioceses as well as being a regular exhibitor at the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show.

One of her most fascinating public works of art is a piece, formed from specially selected Portland stone, and draws inspiration from the county of Hampshire itself.

The commission came from a social housing organisation, which had developed a new complex of homes in Basingstoke, and was looking for an impressive centrepiece for the residents’ circular garden courtyard.

It was agreed Caroline would create a decorative sundial that would represent the character of the county and, at the same, time reflect influences that have shaped Basingstoke over the years.

So began the painstaking job of drawing up the different elements that would eventually be combined by Caroline’s mallet and chisel into an enduring work of art.

Caroline said: “I gave the project a lot of thought and gradually it took shape. I decided that the four sides of the sundial would represent not only Basingstoke but the county as a whole.

“I suggested images of the Basingstoke Canal and the days of steam railway, Jane Austin’s house in nearby Chawton, the development of modern-day Basingstoke and its coat-of-arms showing St Michael and the Dragon.’’ First Caroline made a clay maquette, a small scale model of the sculpture, so as her client could see, in detail, the shape of the sundial Once the design was agreed Caroline made the journey along the coast to Dorset where she carefully picked out a suitable piece of stone at a quarry on Portland.

The Albion Stone Works can trace its roots back to the 1920s and is known for producing especially high quality material needed for intricate masonry for high profile projects.

“Among the huge pieces of stone in the quarry was one which I thought would be ideal for the pyramid shape I envisaged for the sundial,’’ said Caroline, who lives at Nursling.

“Once the shaped piece arrived on site in Basingstoke I realised I would be spending most of my time bent over, sometimes even upside down, to make sure I was at the right angle. So a trench was dug around the base of the stone so I could stand and work on the carvings at eye level.

“I also set up a shelter to try to keep the rain off, but it was very cold and wet at times.’’ Caroline first began working on the four-foot tall, three-tonne stone outside Austen Court, off Priestley Road, towards the end of 2007.

Each of the four faces of the sundial took Caroline five weeks of painstaking chiselling to create as day by day a little more of the sculpture emerged from the stone.

The Basingstoke Canal is represented by the tiller and stern of a barge while overhead billowing clouds of steam rise into the air from a steam locomotive making its way over a viaduct.

A feather quill, an inkwell and book were the images used by Caroline in acknowledging Hampshire’s most famous female author, Jane Austin, who once lived in the village of Chawton, just a few miles from Basingstoke.

An office block together with trees and parkland highlights how much Basingstoke has changed over the decades while on the remaining face is a carving of St Michael and the dragon which is taken from the ancient seal of the former Borough of Basingstoke.

“When I started on the sculpture, the blocks of apartments were still being built but gradually residents started to arrive and would come out bringing me cups of tea,’’ said Caroline.

“Hopefully the sundial will continue to be something that will be admired and with luck it should last at least 100 years.’’