Perfugium Miseris (2024)

Visual of proposed copper version of 'PERFUGIUM MISERIS' Artwork

Information video from 2020 with landing stage location information.

Video Credit: ROAR Video

Original planning application for the landing stage location.

Ramsgate lighthouse with the ‘PERFUGIUM MISERIS’ motto.

The Journey Continues…

In 2016 Mooch created a new public artwork for the coastal town of Ramsgate in Kent.  This temporary, tidal installation was a memorial to lives lost at sea and a celebration of the harbour that hosted the Latin motto, meaning “refuge for those in need”.  In the Winter of 2016, the artwork was removed as planned, but it captured the hearts and imaginations of those who saw it and became a loved part of the beautiful Georgian harbour.

Mooch is now working on delivering a new version of this iconic artwork that will be within a few miles of the Goodwin Sands, a notorious sandbank, nicknamed the Ship Swallower, and the cause of countless shipwrecks. PERFUGIUM MISERIS will sink beneath the waves with the tides and remind us of the perils at sea. 

Planning permission for the new artwork was granted in 2021 for the landing stage at the end of the Eastern harbour arm and research was ongoing with regards to the detail of working in such a challenging location.  The letters will be clad in copper and on a supporting structure that is sympathetic to the historic, listed harbour environment. Recently, the location for the artwork has shifted back to the original site on the harbour arm. This is due to further deterioration of the landing stage location and the confidence we have as a team, in using the original 2016 location for the new artwork.

Watch this space…Keep up to date with the project developments on Facebook and Instagram and join the fans of this poignant project.

Photo credit: Gary Latham / @wglatham