The Chartist Mural was a

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

mural designed by

Kenneth Budd Kenneth George Budd (16 October 1925 – 21 January 1995) was an English mural artist, known for his mosaics and work in other materials. His company, Kenneth Budd and Associates was based in Penge, south London. Budd was born in Fulham, ...

and created in 1978 in a

pedestrian underpass A subway, also known as an underpass, is a grade-separated pedestrian crossing which crosses underneath a road or railway in order to entirely separate pedestrians and cyclists from motor traffic or trains respectively. Terminology In the Un ...

in Newport, Wales. It commemorated the

Newport Rising The Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rising in Wales, by Chartists whose demands included democracy and the right to vote with a secret ballot. On Monday 4 November 1839, approximately 4,000 Chartism, Chartist sympathisers, under ...

of 1839, in which an estimated 22 demonstrators were killed by troops. It was long and high. The mural was controversially destroyed in 2013 despite some public opposition and protests, before adjacent buildings were demolished to make way for the Friars Walk redevelopment.

History

The

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

comprised 200,000 pieces of tile and glass. It was designed by

and erected in 1978 at an entrance to

John Frost Square John Frost Square is a large public space in the centre of Newport, South Wales, named after the Chartist leader, John Frost. It was redeveloped as part of the Friars Walk shopping and leisure complex in 2014 and 2015. Major features on John ...

, which had itself been created through redevelopment and named in the 1960s. The mural celebrated the Chartist uprising of 1839, when John Frost led a march of thousands of protestors to the Westgate Hotel which was fired on by troops; some 22 demonstrators were killed. Budd researched the Chartist rebellion for four months in consultation with experts at the Newport Museum and Art Gallery. He then created the mural in hundreds of square panels in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

which were later assembled on site.Nick Dermody
"Newport Chartist mural artwork faces demolition"
BBC News, 13 March 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2013 The mural showed: * the march of the armed Chartist insurrectionists towards Newport * the Chartists' marching banners for the democratic demands of the Six Points of the People's Charter * their convergence on the Westgate Hotel to protest their demands * the final tragedy when soldiers opened fire upon the assembled Chartists.

Destruction

In 2007, an introductory panel was removed, and it was proposed that the whole mural would be demolished as part of a city centre redevelopment scheme. Documenting Chartism: The Newport Chartist Mural Documentation Project
Retrieved 8 October 2013 Proposals to demolish it were restated in 2012. Alternative proposals were made that it could be recreated on ceramic tiles and displayed at Newport Central Library, or that Kenneth Budd's son Oliver could recreate a section of the mural elsewhere.

Newport City Council Newport City Council () is the governing body for Newport, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. It consists of 51 councillors, who represent the city's 20 wards. The council is currently, and has historically been, held by the Labour Party. ...

stated that the original would be impossible to preserve and too expensive to reconstruct.Natalie Crockett
"Chartist mural to be re-created in library", ''South Wales Argus''
22 March 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2013 In May 2013, the 20th Century Society asked Cadw to

list A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...

the mural as of "architectural and historical interest", but Cadw declined to do so, stating that "The quality of the building to which the mosaic is attached is poor and the underpass itself has no intrinsic design merits. It was also felt that there was no specific association between the location of the mural and the Chartist uprising." Petitions and online campaigns were made in opposition to the planned destruction of the mural, and a protest demonstration was arranged. The council stated that it had to take immediate action because of concerns over safety ahead of the demolition of the adjoining building. Contractors demolished the mural on 3 October 2013. "Anger as Newport council demolish Chartist Mural"
''South Wales Argus'', 4 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013 The planned public demonstration took place on 5 October, attended by 200 people. Local protest against the destruction took many forms, including another of the popular ''Downfall'' parodies.

Reaction

The demolition of the mural drew national as well as local condemnation, with Rob Williams of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' describing it as "indicative of the lack of regard for Welsh history and the triumph of the brute stupidity and disregard for the views of their constituents that many in authority have." A spokesman for Newport council stated that the mural "has served to remind us of Newport's past, but we must now focus on Newport's future." The council has said that it will commission "an alternative solution to commemorating the Chartist movement", in a more accessible location. Paul Flynn MP said that "a serious job has to be done to rebuild trust between the people of Newport and its council." The council's Chief Executive, Will Godfrey, apologised to councillors for not informing them in advance of when the demolition was to occur, and stated that the process "was not underhand or undemocratic as has been suggested in some parts of the media". On 18 October Newport-born actor

Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage rol ...

published a full-page open letter, in local newspaper the

South Wales Argus The ''South Wales Argus'' is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Newport, South Wales. ''The Argus'' is distributed in Newport, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, and Torfaen. History The paper was founded as the ''South Wales Arg ...

, in which he described the "irony of something that was created to celebrate those who risked much for the good of all, being wiped out without consulting the people themselves, and under the auspices of a Labour-led City Council serving the needs of profit above all else, is both absurd as well as tragic."Daisy Wyatt (18 October 2013
"Michael Sheen pens open letter condemning destruction of Newport's Chartist mural"
''The Independent''. Retrieved 18 October 2013. An editorial in the ''

'' on 31 October commented that "there is a lack of transparency and accountability at the top of the council that has now reached a stage where it is damaging Newport's reputation in the outside world. The timing and manner of the mural demolition was just plain stupid. It resulted in damaging publicity across the media, locally and nationally...". On 26 November, the City Council approved a motion expressing "sincere regret to residents of the city of Newport regarding the handling" of the mural's removal. In November Michael Sheen spoke at a conference in Newport to mark the 175th anniversary of the events, and was invited by city council leader Bob Bright to chair a commission on the proposed replacement of the mural. It was announced that an independent trust would be set up, to commission a new memorial, with £50,000 of funding provided by Newport City Council.Chartist Trust
/ref> It was later clarified that Sheen would serve in an advisory capacity to the commission rather than as a member. In March 2014, former archbishop of Canterbury

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

said that destruction of the Chartist Mural in Newport was "a sad blow for the city". Williams, who lived in Newport for almost 11 years, is one of three members of the commission established by the city council to find a replacement for the mural. He said "It did seem to be a sad blow to something of Newport's self image and self confidence.. There was a real need to gather up literally and figuratively what was left and ask the question: how can Newport now celebrate this crucial part of its history? ... The Chartist legacy is surely one of the great elements in the pride that people ought to take... I did think the destruction of the mural was a great sadness."

References

External links

* www.thepeoplescharter.co.uk
Composite image of the mural Video of mural in underpass Slideshow of mural Cadw statement on assessment for listing
* {{cite web , title=Chartist Mural: Options Appraisal for Relocation , author=Mann Williams Consulting Civil and Structural Engineers , date=September 2013 , url=http://www.newport.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/report/cont717507.pdf , ref=Mann Williams, September 2013 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030095618/http://www.newport.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/report/cont717507.pdf , archivedate=30 October 2013
Cliveden Conservation: Summary Report on Initial Investigation of Chartist Mural, September 2013 Newport City Council, "Removal of the Chartist mural – why we had to do it" David R. Howell, "The Chartist Mural: Destroyed", ''Journal of Victorian Culture Online''
Chartism Murals in the United Kingdom Public art in Wales Lost works of art Culture in Newport, Wales Buildings and structures in Newport, Wales