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Eyes on the Bog at Marsden Moor

A metal sculpture of a hare sitting upright with elongated ears and abstract, curved limbs. The sculpture is set against a blurred background of an open landscape with brownish vegetation and an overcast sky.
The totemic sculpture has been inspired by the mountain hares that can often be spotted on the moorland | © National Trust Images/Nick Singleton

Find out how animal sculptures are helping us to monitor the health of Marsden Moor.

Eyes on the Bog project

We are keeping a close eye on two areas of peatland on Marsden Moor to track changes and measure the success of our restoration work. The IUCN UK Peatland Programme created the Eyes on the Bog project as a cost effective and accessible way to monitor peatlands. You can find out more about the project here.

With a few simple techniques, we can gather insights into how our peatlands are changing throughout the seasons and over the years. This project will help us to monitor the behaviour of the water table, peat subsidence or accumulation, vegetation composition and possible trajectories of the landscape - all of these are vital for the healthy peat to form and keep more than a million tonnes of carbon in the ground.

What do we have planned?

Working with a local artist, we created two totemic markers - sculptures with a stand for fixed-place photography, allowing us to gather visual information on the vegetation composition at two points on Marsden Moor. By placing totemic markers at White Moss and Standedge Trail, we can capture the story of the peatlands, helping us to visualise their transformation over time.

 

A person in a brown jacket and gray beanie is taking a photo with a smartphone of a metal sculpture of a hare. The sculpture is mounted on top of a wooden post in an open, grassy landscape with brown vegetation and cloudy skies
By putting phones onto the sculptures, any passer by can help us to track changes in the landscape | © National Trust Images/ Nick Singleton

Get involved

Eyes on the Bog makes it easy for everyone to get involved - enjoy a walk along the moorland and take a photo using the totemic markers, by sending them to us you can help protect this vital landscape for future generations. 

Email your photos to marsdenmoor@nationaltrust.org.uk, please make sure you only capture the moorland in your images and no people. If you are happy for us to use your image on our website and social media pages then please let us know when you email your photos in to us. 

Other ways we assess the bog

Another simple method of measuring the water table is by using rust rods. These are metal rods that are placed in the ground. The surface of the rod that is touching water will begin to rust, so higher levels of rust means the water table is rising. By measuring the top of the rod to the rust level we can work out the lowest the water table has been since it was last monitored - in a healthy bog, the water table should stay close to the surface and not drop by more than 30cm. 

We already have rust rods placed at 23 points on Marsden Moor along with surface level markers, which help us to understand the peat accumulation and subsidence.

Find out more about Eyes on the Bog

Peat Ecologist, Tia Crouch explains some of the methods we are using to monitor peat health on Marsden Moor and Owen Philips talks about the design and construction of the totemic markers.

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What have we done so far?

April 2025

Joining the landscape

The new totemic markers are now in their new home on the Standedge trail and White Moss, we are inviting people to follow the Standedge walking trail  and help us to collect images! You can send any images you take from these fixed points to marsdenmoor@nationaltrust.org.uk, please make sure you only capture the moorland in your images and no people.

If you are happy for us to use your image on our website and social media pages then please let us know when you email your photos in to us. 

NT Peat specialist Tia Crouch and blacksmith Owen Phillips are shown with metal hare sculpture
NT Peat specialist Tia Crouch and blacksmith Owen Phillips are shown with metal hare sculpture | © Nick Singleton
A woman is leaning against a huge craggy rock with her back to the camera, admiring the view from Pule Hill on Marsden Moor, West Yorkshire. Grey clouds cast shadows across the moor, which stretches for miles into the distance.

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Find out how to get to Marsden Moor, where to park, the things to see and do and more.

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