A row of vines planted in a disused church in the centre of Chatham to bring together contemporary art and urban regeneration has won a top art award.

'Chatham Vines' has scooped the Rouse Kent Public Art Award 2006 which is given each year for the best piece of public art created in the county. The award is sponsored by Liberty Property Trust UK (formerly Rouse Kent Ltd) the developer of the Kings Hill business park, West Malling; Kent County Council and Arts Council England, South East and is for artwork to which the public has access and which leaves a lasting legacy.

The prize money for the main award totals £15,000 and is divided between the commissioner of the winning work and the artist.  The winning commissioner will also keep the Rouse Chair for a year.

'Chatham Vines' was created by installation artist John Newling and commissioned by Medway Renaissance, Medway Council in collaboration with Rochester Diocese. Thirty two Pinot Noir grape vines were planted in the central aisle of St John's Church in Railway Street, positioned either side of a 15 metre steel construction.   Louise Francis and Laura Knight, Directors of FrancisKnight Ltd,  project managed the installation.

The vines were planted in September 2004 and grown for one year, using hydroponics technology. At night the church was lit from within and two cameras were installed which continually streamed images of the project via the Internet to a dedicated website www.chathamvines.com.

Time lapse imaging brought a condensed focus to the planting and growth of the vines, the crop's harvest and eventual dismantling. Over 70,000 hits were recorded throughout the duration of the project, with interest from as far afield as Japan and America.

Before the vines were removed, the grapes were harvested and made into wine, some of which was used in the Easter Sunday Eucharist Service at Rochester Cathedral and the rest will be available in September 2006.

The winner was announced at a VIP dinner at the Kings Hill Golf Club on May 17th.

Internationally acclaimed art critic Richard Cork chaired the award's judging panel and other members of the judging panel were Professor Elaine Thomas, Rector University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester; Kent design champion Piers Gough; Janet Hodgson, artist and a prize winner of the award in 2005; Stephanie Fuller, South East Visual Arts Officer (Public Art & Architecture), Arts Council England, South East; Jo Richards, Marketing & Corporate Manager, Hillreed Homes and Vivien Taylor, Associate Director, architect, Liberty Property Trust UK.

"The judges were immediately impressed by the boldness of John Newling's decision to install a pathway of Pinot Noir vines in the central aisle of St John's Church.," said Richard Cork. "Starting with an austere structure of vertical tresses, it changed into an overwhelmingly rich and sensuous experience for everyone lucky enough to visit the site.

"In full bloom, it must have been a magical experience, even for visitors who knew nothing about contemporary art. And it turned out to be a powerful, poetic symbol of regeneration for a disused church waiting to be transformed in the regeneration of Chatham town centre."

Thirteen artworks were entered for the award and of those, four were shortlisted. As well as 'Chatham Vines', the other shortlisted entries were 'Lamb' in Canterbury; 'Four Shores' in Sheppey and 'Somewhere We Meet' in Hextable.