I worked at three studios between 1963 and 1965 all a stone's throw from Fleet Street – the original beating heart of the newspaper world. The last in that trio of studios was located on Farringdon Road. The building no longer exists, but my then studio used to face onto a relatively new classic 60’s block. It was pretty anonymous save for the fact that its entire frontage was graced by a series of ceramic murals…
I never took much notice of them back then, but having lived close by in Clerkenwell for the last decade I often drive by those murals. The building, Fleet House, was once a large GPO state of the art technological palace where the first International Subscriber Dialling (ISD) call was made back in 1963. The GPO and its successor British Telecom have long gone and the building has stood empty for many years. It has an ominous feel to it and is slowly disintegrating...
But the murals remain surprisingly fresh and are rarely disfigured by the many billposter stickers that festoon the area. It is almost as if there is a strange respect for this artistic endeavour from the sixties. I have become very fond of them and thought you might like to see them too…
They are the work of Dorothy Annan 1908 – 1983. She was an artist and ceramicist and lived with her sculptor husband Trevor Tennant. They shared a rather bohemian life together, mostly in London, including a spell living in a single-decker bus. As far as I can make out the Fleet House mural created in 1961 was Annan’s largest commission. The work has clear influence of Ben Nicholson, who produced this mural for the Festival of Britain in 1953…
I have also unearthed these charming Bloomsburyesque paintings by Annan from 1943...
along with another mural she created in the late 1950s, which was sadly destroyed during rebuilding works at the school some years ago...
I really hope that the Fleet House mural does not find itself in the same sad predicament. It would be a great pity to see them lost. So if like me you rather like them do write to English Heritage and The Twentieth Century Society to alert them of your concern. They just might see the historic value in them. For English Heritage click here. The Twentieth Century Society here.
POST SCRIPT: The panels have now been listed. So hopefully we can enjoy them for many more years.
Great post. I used to go past these every day on the bus and often wondered. Now I know. Hope they do save them. Preferably in situ. I think I might like the brick mural even more, though.
Posted by: Shelfappeal | December 29, 2010 at 01:08 PM
There are sooo many massive empty buildings in the city like this. The City of London has to be one of the most wasteful councils in the country when it comes to property. I was worried the murals were going to go the way of Mondial House too so I made sure I took a bunch of pics of them... http://www.flickr.com/photos/mooski/sets/72157607629018543/detail/
Posted by: Bojkowski | December 29, 2010 at 09:37 PM
Hi Michael - Excellent photos and details of the murals. Glad that you have the same sympathy for this piece of work. Eventually the building will either be revived or demolished. Let us hope that Annan's work is saved before the bulldozers move in.
Posted by: mike | December 29, 2010 at 10:37 PM
What can be done when an undistinguished building bears some rather wonderful tiles? Can the jackhammers be wielded with delicacy to allow intact panels to be removed?
Posted by: slabman | January 02, 2011 at 09:21 PM
Looks like the building will be demolished by Goldman Sachs - http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/markets/article-23933357-goldman-might-be-looking-at-boosting-its-city-footprint.do
I can't find any relevant contact details for anyone to ask what if any plans they have for the murals but there a possibility that they can be persuaded not to bin them
Posted by: slabman | March 27, 2011 at 03:07 PM
Great news - the murals have been listed!
Posted by: slabman | November 23, 2011 at 08:53 PM
That really is good news.
Posted by: mike dempsey | November 23, 2011 at 11:15 PM