- Organization: Heritage of London Trust (HOLT).
- Location: Lewisham, southeast London, United Kingdom.
- Heritage Type: Post-war public art installation.
- Action Taken: Artwork conserved and permanently saved.
- Significance: Protects rare example of post-war art.
- Community Impact: Preserves local cultural and historic identity.
Through HOLT’s Proud Places youth involvement initiative, two murals by renowned sculptor William Mitchell on the Foxborough estate near Ladywell were the focus of a repair effort that involved 240 young people.
Kids from Beecroft Garden Primary School got to know conservators and learned about their work, including the conservation methods needed to keep the memorial intact. During their stay, the kids continued to help paint the concrete artwork.
One of the murals is created by arranging and adhering leftover wood and pieces of antique furniture, such as floorboards, picture frames, and banisters, to a baseboard to create a mosaic. In Lewisham, on the other hand, concrete is poured into a clay substrate.
On December 17, the youngsters and local community witnessed the unveiling of the refurbished murals. Dr. Nicola Stacey, the director of HOLT; Cllr. Jacqueline Paschoud, the Lewisham councilor; John Keidan, the chair of the Foxborough Gardens Tenants’ and Residents Association; Elliot, the head boy of Beecroft Garden Primary School; and Ranielle, the head girl of Beecroft Garden Primary School, all gave speeches.
Elliot, Ranielle, and Cllr. Jacqueline Paschoud cut the ribbons.
Speaking of the restoration efforts, Dr Nicola Stacy said
“So much of London’s 1950s and 1960s public art is now under threat or neglected. We’re thrilled to have been able to help rescue and restore these murals.”
Mitchell is regarded as one of the 20th century’s most important British sculptors.
His most notable contributions to the creative landscape of the 1960s and 1970s are attributed to his inventive use of glass-fiber molding and concrete.
His earlier creations adorned a variety of urban areas, such as new towns, cathedrals, underpasses, and housing developments. In addition to emphasizing traditional craftsmanship and useful construction techniques, Mitchell’s work frequently featured more abstract and stylized forms.
The fibreglass reliefs on the doors of Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral, the Egyptian staircase at Harrods, the concrete Stations of the Cross in Clifton Cathedral, and a spectacular mural in the Curzon Cinema in Mayfair are some of his most notable creations.
What conservation techniques were used on the concrete mural made from offcuts of wood?
The concrete tempera at Lewisham’s Foxborough auditoriums firstly poured into complexion matrices by William Mitchell and latterly brightly painted passed conservation through repainting by trained defacers, with Beecroft Garden Primary School children aiding under supervision.
Children learned and contributed to repainting faded ornamental layers, matching Mitchell’smid-century palette while stabilizing the textured concrete face vulnerable to riding .
HOLT’s Proud Places programme emphasized craft education alongside preservation, avoiding aggressive interventions like chemical stripping or pressure washing. Post-cleaning, defensive consolidants likely sealed previous concrete against humidity doorways, standard for 1960s LCC public art exposed to civic adulterants.
