"The Green Man" - At the Culm Valley Integrated Centre for Health

The “Green Man” relief, seen as you enter the Culm Valley Integrated Centre for Health, was created by sculptor Nicholas Dimbleby. It is a symbol of “man in harmony with nature”, and thus represents the Centre’s wish to provide integrated health and care at all levels.

The sculpture shows the face of a man waking, eyes still closed, framed by leaves and trees. Each side hands emerge from the trees, one supporting the head, the other turned out in supplication. At its base is a fountain, which represents life itself, and to the side is an inscription “Genius Loci” meaning “Spirit of place”. The Green Man is thus an expression of the integration of man “within” (mind, body and soul) and “without” (his surrounding environment). This work was produced from the cast of an identical sculpture commissioned by HRH The Prince of Wales for the kitchen garden at Highgrove.

The Green Man originates, perhaps, from the Celtic God, Viridios, meaning “Green Man”. He was taken up by the early Christians as a symbol of eternal life, rebirth and fertility. He thus represents the cycle of growth with renewal each Spring. Through him, we recognise of our oneness with the earth, the source of life itself, on which we rely to grow our food.

If you look around, you will see images of the “Green Man” in many guises; carved on the stones of parish churches or decorating the ceiling of Exeter Cathedral, used as a pub sign or embodied in the mythical creations of Robin Hood and Peter Pan. In the context of our Integrated Centre, he signifies our own commitment to health and healing and provides a focus for our ‘Genius Loci’.