Restoration of Foxborough Gardens murals

We were delighted to unveil two more William Mitchell murals yesterday alongside local people living on the Foxborough Gardens Estate in Lewisham, school children and Speaker for Lewisham, Cllr Jacqueline Paschoud.

There were speeches from HOLT Director, Dr Nicola Stacey, Speaker for Lewisham, Cllr Jacqueline Paschoud, Chair of Foxborough Gardens Tenants' and Residents Association, John Keidan, Beecroft Garden Primary School Head Boy, Elliot and Beecroft Garden Primary School Head Girl, Ranielle.

The ribbons were cut by Cllr Jacqueline Paschoud, Elliot and Ranielle.

Cllr Jacqueline Paschoud commented:

“I was in the generation that benefitted from housing like this with public art schemes. The fact that someone thought ordinary people like me deserved to live in a beautiful place when they were not living in beautiful places is so uplifting. Thanks to the organisations that have supported the project, Heritage of London Trust, the Pilgrim Trust, and inspirational people like John, who see them, know that they’re worth restoring and making into meaningful things again for the people that live here. That’s a very precious thing.”

"It's wonderful to see art for everyone and I was really impressed by people being seen as needing both bread and roses – it’s a real shame there isn’t more social housing with art now!"

– Carol Gibbons, North London resident 

Over 240 young people have been involved in the restoration through HOLT’s Proud Places youth engagement programme. They learned about Mitchell’s practice and visited the conservators at work. Children from Beecroft Garden Primary School were able to help paint the concrete mural.

The murals are located inside the entrances of each of the two tower blocks. One mural is made from offcuts of wood and bits of old furniture – such as banisters, dado rails and picture frames – arranged and glued to a baseboard to make a mosaic. 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.

"It's totally transformed the place having these restored, they are so vibrant now! It's been a wonderful occasion and so lovely to see the school children here!"

– Alison, local resident

The timber mural was removed from site and sanded down to remove the damaged varnish, revealing the grain of the wood and original designs hidden underneath. The losses were filled with newly cut pieces of wood, using moulds from the original shapes, and the panels oiled. Restoration was carried out by Temple Studios.

The concrete mural was carefully scraped to remove the many years of old layers of paint. Losses and cracks were restored and it was repainted. Restoration was carried out by Taylor Pearce Ltd. 

This project was brought to Heritage of London Trust by the Foxborough Gardens Tenants and Residents Association and funded by Heritage of London Trust and the Pilgrim Trust.