Shadow ships

A new sculpture series for Shoreham-by-Sea and Coronation Green

Six permanent sculptures for Coronation Green, Shoreham-by-Sea. Shadow Ships have been created by artists Dawn Parsonage and Peter Hudson from Light Space Color Ltd for Adur District Council using Section 106 development fund. Illustrations by Eleanor Taylor.

Shadow Ships is a celebration of the ships and boats which have been built in, or been important to Shoreham through time. Each ship would have once sailed past Coronation Green. They are an ode to the rich history of shipbuilding in Shoreham and the importance of ships and boats in a town where the river runs straight through it and so on to the sea

The Ships are uniquely alive - each day their shadows move towards the sea as the sun moves across the sky, and at night a small light will guide them home.

The ships were chosen from a shortlist of 15 possible contenders. In 2025, six hundred people voted for their preferred ships, and these are the ones you see today. The sixth ship, Ship of the Future, is from the imaginations of the Year 5 children at Buckingham Park School, Shoreham.

Each Shadow Ship also holds the stories of the people of Shoreham in 2026.

To listen to the audio, and discover more about each ship, click the links below.

The grey day and the recent hail could not dampen the spirits of the launch event held on 15/05/2026 on Coronation Green, Shoreham-by-Sea. Thank you to everyone who came, the children for their enthusiasm, the Salty Mares for their voices and the rain for holding off for 45 minutes.

Footage by Todd Macdonald