Continuing our series on London's greatest murals.
We dissect one of London's best-known yet most mysterious murals.
If you've ever walked the length of Tottenham Court Road, you can't have helped but admire this multi-storey mural about half-way along on the western side. It dominates a paved open space known as Whitfield Gardens. This is one of central London's last undeveloped bomb-sites; the lingering echo of a V2 rocket strike in March 1945.
The mural was created in 1980 by Mick Jones and Simon Barber, collectively known as the Art-Workers Co-Op. The work reportedly took six months to plan out, and another 10 weeks to execute. It was financed by the Greater London Artists' Association and Camden Council. Apparently, Jones did the top half while Barber tackled the lower, more intimate sections.
By 2010, the mural was in a parlous state, much faded and tagged with graffiti. Happily, it's since been rescued and restored, with help from Global Street Art. Today, the colours are so vivid, you wouldn't guess it's well into its fifth decade.
All of Fitzrovia life is here, from bars and restaurants to local market workers. Most large-scale murals like this tend to depict scenes from a neighbourhood's history. This one, however, is very much 'in the present', as it was in 1980. Its key images typically do not show famous people (with two exceptions), but rather the local characters, and the concerns they held at the time. We've picked out a few of the highlights below, partly garnered from a minimalist information board next to the mural. We'd welcome further information in the comments.
Close-up look of the Fitzrovia Mural
1. Large-scale redevelopment. The upper sections of the mural are a critique of large-scale redevelopment and the growing skyline. Cranes rise high over a cityscape, which includes the Post Office Tower (whose name would soon change to the British Telecom and thence BT Tower). Note the construction workers on the left, one of who clutches at a real drain pipe, and another who appears to sit on the sunshine.
2. Horace Cutler as a vampire. Cutler was the penultimate leader of the Greater London Council (1977-1981), before it was abolished during the tenure of Ken Livingstone. He was a polarising figure, much admired in some quarters but criticised in others. He's seen here depicted as a Dracula-like character, dangling from a crane and clutching blueprints to tower blocks, as though his policies will suck the life out of London. Cutler also appears on Brian Barnes's Nuclear Dawn mural in Brixton.
3. Dylan Thomas. The Welsh poet was a resident of Fitzrovia, and a regular drinker in the pubs. The nearby Wheatsheaf carries an informal plaque to Thomas, along with George Orwell.
4. Lack of open space. The interpretation board labels this area as 'Suggestion of a lack of open space'. This is still true today in densely built-up Fitzrovia. The only publicly accessible piece of grass is in the tiny Crabtree Fields.
5. More bills. This section appears to show a council, or perhaps government department churning out bills, demands and notices. Cost of living crises are nothing new.
6. Architects and developers. The mural contains numerous references to people with money riding roughshod over the common folk. Here we see a greedy developer worshipping his pile of money, which resembles a tower block. Meanwhile, a clockwork architect churns out new plans.
7. Tailoring. Various scenes depicting tailoring, an industry with long history in the area.
8. Bangladeshi community. Fitzrovia and wider parts of Camden have long been home to a thriving South Asian community. You have only to walk a little north to Drummond Street to find some of the best Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants in London.
9. Dining. Hospitality is today a huge part of Fitzrovia's 'thing', especially the areas around Charlotte Street and Goodge Street. Food is well represented on the mural with various scenes showing diners and waiting staff. The bow-tied epicure to the right of the mural shows how the area was increasingly attracting a more affluent clientele
10. Medical Fitzrovia. Various characters here represent the Middlesex Hospital which, for 260 years, presided over central Fitzrovia. It was the first hospital in England to provide maternity beds (in 1747), hence why a pregnant woman is depicted. The hospital was closed in 2005, and has since been redeveloped into a fancypants office and hospitality complex. Peter Sellers died in Middlesex Hospital in 1980, the same year the mural was painted.
11. Local residents. The information plaque tells us that these two represent 'previous workers of 9 Tottenham Street', which is a few metres away.
Doubtless, we are missing many other details here, and would welcome any additions. Email [email protected] with information, or leave a comment below. We may update this article with interesting additions.
See our full series on London's best murals, including:
The Battersea mural,
The Battle of Cable Street mural
The Sutton Heritage Mosaic
Dalston's Hackney Peace Carnival mural
New Cross's Riders of the Apocalypse mural
Brixton's Nuclear Dawn mural
Peckham's RUN mural
