The artist Simon Read celebrates the sea as part of Poole's identity:
"These carvings in the town's flood defence mark the ebb and flow of Poole's fortunes at the water's edge. Pilgrims, merchants and soldiers set off from these quays.
For hundreds of years the sea has provided Poole with jobs and wealth, yet the town still needs protection from the sea's storm-driven surges.
The artist reminds us that the memory of the town is tied to the shoreline.
Poole Museum has weathered floods, fires and invasions. Constructed around a wall built in the 1300s, it is a medieval, Victorian and contemporary structure."