Continuing our series on London's most important murals, we look at Brian Barnes's Nuclear Dawn on Coldharbour Lane.
It's a mural of horror, but also of hope. Nuclear Dawn towers three storeys over the western end of Coldharbour Lane in Brixton. It shows a skeletal figure of death striding over the capital, draped in the flags of the USA, Soviet Union and — forming the coat-tales — the UK. Death casually scatters cruise missiles from a pouch. One has already exploded to form a mushroom cloud of screaming heads. London is doomed. The world is doomed.
But wait. A hand reaches up from the right. Doves of peace morph into the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) symbol. There is another way. The threat of nuclear war can be held back, if we truly want peace.
This iconic Cold War imagery was painted in 1980-81 by Brian Barnes MBE, Dale McCrea and local residents. (We've seen Brian's handiwork before, in the similarly projected Battersea mural.) The mural was intended as an anti-war statement, at a time of heightened tensions between the Soviet Union and the West. It had the full backing of local authorities, with funding from the Arts Council, Gulbenkian Foundation, Greater London Arts Council and Lambeth Council.
Barnes often took inspiration from classic artworks (see again the Battersea Mural). Here, the influence is clearly Satan Sowing Tares by Félicien Rops.
Digging into the details
Safe in the bunker: To the bottom right of the image, nine prominent politicians hide in a bunker beneath Westminster. These include (left to right) Horace Cutler (leader of the Greater London Council at the time), a Soviet figure, perhaps Stalin (though he would be the only anachronistic figure), Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush (then Vice-President), Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Prince of Wales (now Charles III), and Labour Leader (and former PM) James Callaghan.
London buildings: Numerous London landmarks can be seen in the lower part of the mural. The reaper's left foot rests upon the Houses of Parliament. Westminster Abbey and the Ministry of Defence are also clearly shown. The turreted building besides Parliament is the old St Stephen's Club, now replaced by Portcullis House.
Across the water stands County Hall — seat of London's government at the time. Behind it stands the distinctive No 1 Westminster Bridge (now demolished and replaced by Park Plaza hotel), and nearby are the Royal Festival Hall, St Thomas's Hospital and Lambeth Palace. In the distance to the right, just beneath the cruise missile, is the tower of Lambeth Town Hall, alongside other local landmarks.
A tiny mural: As with the Battersea Mural, this mural is also self-referential. Look closely to the left of Lambeth Town Hall and you'll see a miniature version of Nuclear Dawn. 👇
A tiny Brian: Just off the mural, to the right, a small representation of Brian Barnes has been added to the brickwork, along with a drinks can bearing the name Dale McCrea. The details are easily missed.
Cruise missiles: It's no coincidence that the reaper figure sows the land with cruise missiles, as opposed to ICBMs. At the time Barnes and co were painting the mural, protests were taking place over the decision to station US Cruise Missiles at RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire. The most prominent missile in the mural carries USAF livery, or rather deathery.
A mural restored
Nuclear Dawn looks fresh as the day it was painted, more than 40 years on, but this is thanks to heavy restoration. Until recently, the mural looked wretched, after withstanding decades of weathering, ivy encroachment and some serious tagging. The Mural Preservation Society, whose plaque accompanies the work, were instrumental in drumming up support.
The mural was finally brought back to its full vigour in 2021 during construction of the neighbouring Brixton House Theatre. A team of local artists, with the approval of Brian Barnes, set about repainting the mural with the help of conservation company Campbell Smith & Co. The team used durable paints and a sacrificial coating to ensure the mural can survive anything that's thrown against it — nuclear war aside.
The mural has survived relatively unscathed since its restoration a few years ago. However, small pieces of graffiti are beginning to creep back in. One scrawler has a message for developers and gentrifiers:
"Your demonic attempt to take over Brixtonia will never happen. Brixtonia was built on love and unity. Brixton was built with bricks." It is a strange, misdirected message to scrawl on a symbol of local unity, and one which has been part of the Brixton streetscape for nearly half a century.
Nuclear Dawn can be found on the side of the Carlton Mansions block on Coldharbour Lane, directly opposite Brixton Village. All images by Matt Brown, except for Satan Sowing by Félicien Rops, which is creative commons.
