Restoration of Brooklands Estate mural

We were delighted that so many local residents, parents and children joined us at Brooklands Primary School in Blackheath, for the unveiling of the newly restored and relocated Brooklands Estate mural.

The ribbon was cut by pupils from Brooklands Primary School alongside HOLT and Royal Borough of Greenwich.

The school children had been involved in the restoration process through HOLT's Proud Places programme, meeting Fritzi von Preussen from Temple Studios. They created their own murals with him, using similar methods to those used in the Brooklands Estate mural.

The Brooklands Estate mural was completed in 1958 by artist William Mitchell (1925 - 2020). It is made of 13 carved hardboard panels, which Mitchell cut to fit on-site at its original location - the village hall clubroom of the Brooklands Park Estate.

The clubroom is being demolished to provide space for new Royal Borough of Greenwich social housing, and the mural was rescued. The Brooklands mural has been set into a bespoke timber frame, matching its clubroom layout, and reinstalled in the main hall of Brooklands Primary School for future generations.

Foxborough gardens murals

Two beautiful murals in the entrances to two six-storey housing blocks in Foxborough Gardens in Lewisham are currently being restored by HOLT.

The concrete mural has just been re-painted by conservators from Taylor Pearce, the colours were carefully selected to match the latest iteration of the mural. Local people and children were invited to help finish the job!

The timber mural has been taken away for conservation by Temple Studios and will be reinstated in a few weeks’ time.

The murals were created between 1957 and 1963 by artist William Mitchell (1925 - 2020) who was commissioned by the London County Council to decorate the block entrances of the new housing. The timber mural is made from offcuts of wood and bits of old furniture - bannisters, dado rails and chair legs - arranged on baseboards and sanded down and varnished. It depicts abstract forms of birds, fountains, castles and sunbursts. The other mural is made from concrete (poured concrete into a clay matrix) and is more purely abstract. The concrete mural was painted in bright colours in subsequent decades. In total, Mitchell produced around 100 pieces of public art in London. Over fifteen of his works now have Grade II or Grade II* listed status.

The project has been supported by HOLT, the Pilgrim Trust, Foxborough Gardens residents and Lewisham Council and will be finished in December. Local children have been involved in the project as part of HOLT’s Proud Places programme.

Southwark Park caryatids

Work is underway on the Victorian caryatids in Southwark Park. The missing arms of one of the caryatids have been remodelled first in wax, built up over wooden frame supports. They are currently being re-carved in stone at a workshop off-site.

Our Proud Places team have been taking local young people to meet the stonemasons and get up close to the sculptures. The young people have been introduced to stonemasonry and taken part in clay sculpture and drawing workshops.

These caryatids were once on each side of the main entrance at Rotherhithe Town Hall, sculpted by the artist Henry Poole (1873-1928).

Rotherhithe Town Hall was severely damaged by bombing in the Blitz – it was hit by bombs on six different occasions and later had to be demolished. The bombing damaged the caryatids too. However, they were rescued and transferred to a new housing complex in Elephant and Castle, the Heygate Estate, in 1974. 

After the Heygate Estate was demolished in 2011 the caraytids were rescued again and installed in Southwark Park.

The project, supported by HOLT, Knight Frank and Southwark Council will be finished in early December.

We’d love to know your thoughts on the project, please fill out our survey here.