Latest news with #HeritageofLondonTrust
BBC News
17-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
'Rediscovered' mural to be restored and moved to primary school
A mural by a leading 20th Century London artist installed in a now-disused community centre in south London is to be moved to a local primary Mitchell, who was born in Maida Vale in 1925, has a body of work that ranges from a zoo in Qatar to the Egyptian escalator at who died in 2020 aged 94, was known for his public art in the UK, including Grade II listed works across London, as well as significant installations in the United a mural by the artist, "rediscovered" in Blackheath during preparatory work for the construction of new council homes, is to be restored. Greenwich Council said it worked with local residents, ward councillors and the Blackheath and Twentieth Century Societies to get funding from the Heritage of London Trust to pay for conservation and restoration of the the mural is thoroughly cleaned and restored it will be moved to Brooklands Primary School, close to the original council said pupils at the school will be taught about the techniques and technology used to restore artwork during the mural is currently in storage and will be installed at the school this Mitchell has more artworks listed on the National Heritage List for England than any other post-war include the fibreglass reliefs on the doors of Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral, a 1,000 ft (320m) long decorative cast concrete work on a wall at Kidderminster ring road and Clifton Cathedral's concrete Stations of the Cross.
The Guardian
01-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘She changed the face of London': statue to be unveiled of suffragist gardener
She was a proto-feminist pioneer who blazed a trail for female gardeners and changed the face of London by creating 'green lungs' in the capital for Victorians suffering from pollution and overcrowding. Now a charity is seeking to shine a light on Fanny Wilkinson, the UK's first professional female landscape gardener, by unveiling the first ever statue of the suffragist at one of the 75 London parks she designed more than a century ago. 'Fanny was an incredibly important figure in her time – and she was really inspirational,' said Nicola Stacey, the director of Heritage of London Trust. 'She trained as a gardener when women did not do so, and led the way for other women in being paid for her work, opening up opportunities for women in the profession of landscape design and gardening that, of course, many generations have since benefited from.' In 1882, Wilkinson became the first female pupil of the newly formed Crystal Palace School of Landscape Gardening and Practical Horticulture: all her fellow students were male. After graduating, she took an unpaid position as an 'honorary' landscape gardener for the Metropolitan Public Gardens, Boulevard and Playground Association (MPGA), a new organisation founded by the philanthropist Lord Brabazon to facilitate the creation of public gardens and children's playgrounds in London. Two years later, in 1886, she had the courage – and self-belief – to write to Brabazon to say: 'I feel it would be better for me to drop the 'hon' and make a charge which would fully cover all expenses.' At this point, 'she became the first professional female landscape gardener who was paid for her services, as opposed to advising for free', Stacey said. 'She then took on female employees and was a pioneering figure in the campaign for equal pay.' In an interview for the Women's Penny Paper in 1890, Wilkinson – who sat on the central committee for women's suffrage with her friend Millicent Fawcett – said: 'I certainly do not let myself be underpaid as many women do. There are people who write to me and think because I am a woman I will ask less than a man. This I never do. I know my profession and charge accordingly, as all women should do.' She struggled with men who did not respect her as a female boss: 'Often my customers prefer that their own men should work under me. This is often a stumbling block, since the gardeners occasionally imagine they know better, and they are often stupid and pig-headed. I have great bother with them now and then.' Wilkinson laid out 75 public gardens in London across a 20-year period, including parks in deprived, working-class areas such as Myatt's Fields Park in Lambeth and Meath Gardens in Bethnal Green. Stacey said: 'The city was becoming increasingly industrialised and polluted and it needed these green lungs, these open spaces she created for people to walk and enjoy themselves in the fresh air. 'Fanny really understood how to design a beautiful public park in London and that's why they have lasted – and thrived – the way they have.' The trust, which is in the process of restoring 24 historic drinking fountains across the capital, has worked with Wandsworth council and other local community partners to commission a bronze statue of Wilkinson by the sculptor Gillian Brett. It will be installed on a Victorian water fountain in Coronation Gardens in Wandsworth, south west London on 3 July. 'The fountain was totally derelict and it had lost its allegorical figure over the water source,' said Stacey. 'So this was a wonderful opportunity to return a figure to the fountain, but to choose one of real significance: Fanny was the landscape designer who laid out Coronation Gardens. It's a commemoration of her work in one of the parks that benefited from her design and her creativity.' Stacey hopes the statue will reassert Wilkinson's rightful place in history as 'the country's pioneering female landscape designer' who, aside from being honoured with a blue plaque in 2022, has been 'fairly little recognised'. 'Over the course of her career, Fanny changed the face of London,' she said. In 1904, Wilkinson left the MPGA to become the first female principal of Swanley Horticultural College, later established as a women-only college. She also co-founded the Women's Agricultural and Horticultural International Union, which played a key role in establishing the Women's Land Army of female farm workers during the first world war. She died at the age of 95 in 1951.
The Guardian
08-04-2025
- General
- The Guardian
London mural by key postwar artist saved from demolition
A rare piece of postwar art that was under threat of being demolished along with the south London building it was housed in has been saved. The work, a mural by William Mitchell, was created for a community centre in Blackheath that is to be torn down to make way for social housing. The mural will now be preserved by Heritage of London Trust (Holt). Completed in 1958, it is thought to be the best kept example of Mitchell's early work still in situ. It was made by combining 13 bespoke panels that Mitchell carved and filled in with resin. Holt will relocate the mural in a primary school within the Brooklands Park estate where the community centre stands. Nicola Stacey, the director of Holt, said: 'The school is in the same estate and of the same period, so it's an ideal transition for it. We're really keen that it has maximum visibility and in a school the children will experience it every day. It will be a remarkable thing.' Brooklands Park was seen as a leading example of aspirational postwar housing, with green space and tasteful design. The Twentieth Century Society, a preservation group, has backed local opposition to the plans to knock down the village hall and in 2022 launched an unsuccessful attempt to have the mural listed by Historic England. Edmund Hall, an architect and artist who creates banners, including for his longtime collaborator Jeremy Deller, was part of the campaign to retain the mural. He said he was pleased it was being retained and felt its original home should be too. He said: 'Locally there is some satisfaction that the mural is 'saved', but I still feel it is a bit like demolishing the Sistine Chapel and saving the Last Judgment.' Mitchell's work has been threatened repeatedly in recent years but the Twentieth Century Society managed to get 15 works added to the national register, making him 'one of the most recognised and respected muralists of the period', according to the organisation. He also created the facade of Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral, and 30 April marks what would have been the artist's 100th birthday. Mitchell, who trained at the Royal College of Art and worked for London county council as a design consultant, produced about 100 works of art throughout the capital, many of which were placed in postwar housing estates with the intention of brightening them up. Holt is restoring two other Mitchell murals, located in housing blocks in Lewisham, south London. Stacey said those responsible for contemporary building projects should take inspiration from the postwar period when Mitchell was active and include artworks, with commissions ideally going to local artists. She said: 'The era Mitchell's work emerged in was idealistic but also incredibly inspirational. Today the developers putting up residential blocks should be integrating art into their schemes, commissioning emerging artists and not doing it as an afterthought. 'The legacy of people like Mitchell proves that not only are they wonderful for people living near them, but they also instil a sense of pride.'
