Sutton twin towns mural

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sutton twins towns mural
Twin towns Mural - Sutton, Surrey London Borough of Sutton.JPG
Panorama of Sutton town centre including the Twin Towns Mural
Artist Rob Turner and Gary Drostle
Year 1993
Medium Plywood
Subject Mural
Condition Good
Location Sutton
5121'37.5?N 011'29.6?WCoordinates 5121'37.5?N 011'29.6?W
The Sutton Twin towns mural is a large mural in the form of seven individual
paintings situated in Sutton High Street in the town of Sutton in Greater London,
England. It is one of six works of public art in Sutton town centre.

Contents [hide]
1 Design and location
2 Mural features
3 2011 information board
4 Engagement with twin towns
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Design and location[edit]
The mural was created in 1993 by two Public artists Gary Drostle[1] and Rob Turner
on the 25th anniversary of Sutton's twinning in 1968 with Wilmersdorf in Berlin.[2]
Seven individual paintings make up the mural. It is positioned along the north
flank of a Victorian commercial building at the southern end of the High Street
near the train station at the junction with Sutton Court Road. The paintings are on
plywood and inset within seven mock window frames. The paintings depict scenes of
the London Borough of Sutton and its four European twin towns Gagny, a suburb of
Paris in France; Gladsaxe, a suburb of Copenhagen in Denmark; Minden in North
Rhine-Westphalia in Germany; and Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Berlin in Germany.
[3] (There is also a friendship link with Tavernelle, which is 16 miles south of
Florence in Italy.)[4]

The twin towns mural was commended by the Sutton and Cheam Society in 1994.[5]
Drostle and Turner also produced the Sutton heritage mosaic.

Mural features[edit]

The painting of Gagny

Sutton twin towns mural

The painting of Minden

The five main paintings show a number of the main features of their respective
areas, along with the heraldic shield of each above the other images. Each painting
also features a plant as a visual representation of its subject's environmental
awareness.[6] In the case of Sutton this is in a separate smaller painting (above
its main one) showing a beech tree, intended as a symbol of prosperity and from
which Carshalton Beeches in the borough derives its name.[3]

The artists involved pupils from Sutton schools and community groups in the early
designs; each group dealt with a different town. Sutton's mural painting shows a
range of its most well known landmarks, including Whitehall in Cheam, Carshalton
Ponds, Honeywood House and the spire of Trinity Church in Sutton town centre.
Gagny's shows the Htel De Ville, an ancient manor surrounded by a garden. The
mural for Gladsaxe shows Bagsvrd Lake, Bagsvrd Church and Hjgrd. Minden's mural
features its cathedral, the Westerorbrcke bridge and the Mittelandkanal Aqueduct.
[3]

2011 information board[edit]

The Sutton Council determined to erect a new information board... to tell people
the story of the murals.[3] In 2011 it was installed by the local council in the
street facing the mural outside the Cock and Bull pub. Councillor Graham Tope,
explained the purpose of the new sign

These murals are an important part of our borough's history and I think it's
fitting that people should be able to learn more about them. The borough's first
European ties were established in 1968 ..... twinning continues to be a noteworthy
part of the borough's identity.[3]

Engagement with twin towns[edit]

In November 2015 the Mayor of Sutton sent condolences to its twin town Gagny, Paris
following the terrorist attacks on Paris that month.[7]

In September 2016 French folk dance group LAubade de Quercy from Gagny joined
their UK counterparts, Pennyroyal Clog Dancers and the East Surrey Morris Men, in
Trinity Square, Sutton town centre.[8]

See also[edit]
Sutton Heritage Mosaic
Sutton armillary
The Messenger (sculpture in Sutton)
References[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sutton twin towns mural.
Jump up ^ Mural Gallery. Gary Drostle. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
Jump up ^ Murals to get a makeover. Croydon Advertiser. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 10
September 2014.
^ Jump up to a b c d e Revealing Sutton's twinning heritage 06.06.11 A set of
murals celebrating Sutton's links with its continental twin towns is to be given a
new lease of life. (Press release). London Borough of Sutton press office. 6 June
2011. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
Jump up ^ London Borough of Sutton Town Twinning page
Jump up ^ Mosaic Makers website
Jump up ^ Murals for Sutton twin towns to get new lease of life. Sutton Guardian.
12 June 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2014. Murals for Sutton twin towns to get new
lease of life. London News. 12 June 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
Jump up ^ Sutton Guardian, 16 Nov 2015
Jump up ^ Sutton Guardian, 25 Sep 2016
External links[edit]
Murals of twin towns, corner of Sutton High Street, Flickr
[hide] v t e
Public art and memorials in London
Statues