Sanctuary is an ode to the comfort we find in unexpected places. It is a celebration of the forgotten but newly discovered, and of the view that the past can bring to the future. Shot over three years at Tivoli Woods, a small urban woodland with a hidden past.

Tivoli Gardens – as they were originally known – were once the darling of Margate, the “fashionable centre” of the town during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Visitors flocked to the gardens for masqued balls, bazaars and fetes, delivered by train from the provincial centres to a purpose built station.

As the twentieth century dawned, and the town’s sea promenades and golden sands took prominence, Tivoli gradually fell out of favour, eventually becoming a place forgotten. So began a decades long transformation from managed gardens to unruly woods. In stark contrast to the headier days of the Regency, Tivoli Woods have since become a niche for those looking to escape, but for peace and quiet, solitude, even sanctuary.

My interest in Tivoli Woods was kindled upon moving to Margate, finding it was the first place I would go to be alone, taking my camera with me every time. As I looked into its history, I considered what has been lost next to what I – and perhaps others – have gained from it. How unrecognisable would it now be to the patrons of past times. It struck me that while change doesn’t always look like we might expect, or even hope, it to, new meanings can arise from the remnants of old ones. Sometimes that happens while people are looking out to sea.