Commerce Welcoming All Nations frieze restored

Heritage of London Trust with support from the Jones Day Foundation and Islington Council has completed restoration of a stunning 73-ft-long Victorian frieze in Islington. 

Heritage of London Trust, guests, local residents and school children visited the frieze last week.

The frieze was created in 1842 and was once set into the façade of the Hall of Commerce building in the City of London. When that building was torn down in 1922, the frieze was saved and put into storage.

In 1975, the frieze was repaired and re-installed in the newly created Battishill Gardens in Islington, and unveiled by Sir John Betjeman.

‘We are thrilled to have been able to restore this spectacular frieze,’ said Dr Nicola Stacey, Director of Heritage of London Trust.

‘The artist Musgrave Watson had had a very chequered career before he came to this commission. He’d trained at the Royal Academy, had worked for three years in Italy, and set up studio near the British Museum. But he had got few commissions to turn his plaster designs into actual stonework. He was unhappy, frustrated and living in poverty. And he was very slight, with a delicate constitution, and he suffered with ill health, anxiety and depression throughout his life. 

‘But he finally managed to win this big commission “to set forth the blissful influences of commerce”. And the frieze shows off his rare talent.’ 

Watson died a few years after its completion, aged 42, from tuberculosis and heart failure.

Stacey also paid tribute to the work of Sir John Betjeman. ‘Sir John Betjeman was instrumental in bringing this artwork to Islington. He opened this garden in 1975, so today we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of this frieze.’

James Grant, from Sally Strachey Conservation, was also present at the event. Stacey thanked Grant for his impressive work. ‘James has removed quite a lot of the damaging concrete infill from the 1970s and has replaced those parts with lime mortar, which matches the Portland stone.’

Islington Council has removed the railings, laid out new plants for the beds and will be working with Heritage of London Trust on an interpretation panel to accompany the frieze.

HOLT restores three important William Mitchell murals in artist’s centenary year

Heritage of London Trust, the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Dr Dawn Pereria and the Twentieth Century Society have all worked together to save a rare William Mitchell mural. 

The Brooklands mural is one of three William Mitchell works that Heritage of London Trust will be restoring in 2025, the centenary of the artist’s birth.

In Greenwich, one William Mitchell mural that used to adorn a wall in the Brooklands Community Centre will be now be relocated to Brooklands Primary School. Two other murals which decorate the bases of housing blocks in Lewisham will also be restored this year.

Dr Nicola Stacey said of the Brooklands mural,‘So much of London’s 50s and 60s fantastic public art is under threat or neglected. We’re thrilled to have been able to rescue this mural and relocate it nearby. We look forward to a burgeoning interest in London’s wonderfully eclectic post war art.’

Catherine Croft, Director of C20 Society said, ‘This mural shows the amazing William Mitchell at his most characteristically inventive – using cheap, everyday materials in an innovative and unexpected way to make a robust and accessible artwork. It’s been loved by many generations – and it’s great that it’s being sensitively restored and moved, not to an art gallery, but to a primary school where we’re sure it will delight and intrigue those who will see it on a daily basis, inspiring them to be creative too.’ 

Royal Borough of Greenwich Cabinet Member for Planning, Estate Renewal and Development Cllr Majid Rahman said, ‘From the time we learned of the cultural significance of this mural, located on a site where we are building much-needed new council homes, it has been our priority to protect and preserve it for future generations.

We are delighted that with help from Heritage of London Trust and the Twentieth Century Society, this rare example of William Mitchell’s work will be restored and moved to a place where it can enrich the lives of young people in our borough.’

Read more about the William Mitchell mural projects in the Guardian.

Fresh drinking water returns to Christ Church fountain

Fresh drinking water has been restored to the Victorian water fountain in Christ Church Gardens, Southwark.

This morning (13 March) Dr Nicola Stacey welcomed HOLT supporters including staff from Southwark Council, Delancey, the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, Bankside Open Spaces Trust; congregation members from Christ Church Southwark, and pupils from Snowfields Primary School to the unveiling of the restored Christ Church fountain.

‘It’s my absolute pleasure to unveil this beautiful fountain here in Christ Church Gardens,’ said Dr Nicola Stacey. ‘When we first took on this project, there was no running water from the fountain, the structure itself was sinking into the ground, and the roof had been damaged by a falling tree. Worst of all, an ugly steel basin had been added. 

‘Today, as you can see, the lovely slate roof has been restored, the fountain’s foundations have been repaired, and thanks to our colleagues at London Stone Conservation, there’s a beautiful, newly carved stone bowl below the working taps.’

Nicola thanked Southwark Council and Delancey for their support with this project, the 14th drinking fountain restored by HOLT to date. She also commended the local school pupils for the posters, artworks and sculptures they created in response to the Christ Church Fountain project, as part of the Proud Places youth engagement scheme.

Councillor Portia Mwangangye commented:

“It was a pleasure to work with Heritage of London Trust on the restoration of Christ Church fountain. The fountain sits in Christ Church Gardens, an important local green space that provides the community of Southwark with a restful enclave amongst the hustle and bustle of the cityscape.”

Find out more about the history and the restoration project of the Christ Church fountain here.

Read press coverage of the unveiling by Londonist, South London News, Southwark News and on Ian Visits. The story was featured on BBC London News as part of their morning and evening bulletins on Thursday 13th March.