| Sutton twins towns mural | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Rob Turner and Gary Drostle |
| Year | 1993 |
| Medium | Plywood |
| Subject | Mural |
| Condition | Good |
| Location | Sutton |
| 51°21′37.5″N0°11′29.6″W / 51.360417°N 0.191556°W Coordinates: 51°21′37.5″N0°11′29.6″W / 51.360417°N 0.191556°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.
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 Tavarnelle, 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.
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 Hôtel De Ville, an ancient manor surrounded by a garden. The mural for Gladsaxe shows Bagsværd Lake, Bagsværd Church and Højgârd. Minden's mural features its cathedral, the Westerorbrücke bridge and the Mittelandkanal Aqueduct. [3]
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]
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 L’Aubade de Quercy from Gagny joined their UK counterparts, Pennyroyal Clog Dancers and the East Surrey Morris Men, in Trinity Square, Sutton town centre. [8]
Carshalton is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated 9.5 miles (15.3 km) south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalton Ponds in the middle of the village. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Carshalton was in the administrative county of Surrey.
Cheam is a commuter suburb now in the London Borough of Sutton, England, 10.9 miles (17.5 km) south-west of Charing Cross. It divides into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to two large parks, Nonsuch Park and Cheam Park. Nonsuch Park contains the listed Nonsuch Mansion. Parts of Cheam Park and Cheam Village are in a conservation area. Cheam is bordered by Worcester Park to the north-west, Morden to the north-east, Sutton to the east, Epsom, Ewell and Stoneleigh to the west and Banstead and Belmont to the south.
Wallington is a town in the London Borough of Sutton, in South London, England. It is 9.7 miles (15.6 km) south south-west of Charing Cross. Before the Municipal Borough of Beddington and Wallington merged into the London Borough of Sutton in Greater London in 1965, it was part of the county of Surrey. Wallington is a post town in the SM postcode area.
The London Borough of Sutton is a London borough in south-west London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of 43 km2 (17 sq mi) and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croydon to the east, the London Borough of Merton to the north and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames to the north-west; it also borders the Surrey boroughs of Epsom and Ewell and Reigate and Banstead to the west and south respectively. The local authority is Sutton London Borough Council. Its principal town is the eponymous Sutton.
Gladsaxe Kommune is a municipality near Copenhagen in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (Sjælland) in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 25 km2 (10 sq mi), and has a total population of 69,681 (2019). Its mayor is Trine Græse, a member of the Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterne) political party.
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf is the fourth borough of Berlin, formed in an administrative reform with effect from 1 January 2001, by merging the former boroughs of Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf.
Sutton is the principal town in the London Borough of Sutton in South London, England. It lies on the lower slopes of the North Downs, and is the administrative headquarters of the Outer London borough. It is 10 miles (16 km) south-south west of Charing Cross, and is one of the thirteen metropolitan centres in the London Plan. The population of the town was counted as 41,483 in the 2011 census, while the borough overall counted 204,525.
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
Carshalton Beeches railway station is in south Carshalton in the London Borough of Sutton in south London. The station, and all trains serving it, is operated by Southern, and is in Travelcard Zone 5. It is between Wallington and Sutton, 13 miles 72 chains down the line from London Bridge, measured via Forest Hill.
Carshalton was a local government district in north east Surrey from 1883 to 1965 around the town of Carshalton.
The London Borough of Sutton, one of the peripheral London boroughs, has 89 parks and open spaces within its boundaries, a total area of 1500 acres (6 km2). Varied in size and layout, green spaces range from the compact Manor Park in Sutton town centre, through the medium-sized Grove Park, which forms part of the Carshalton Village conservation area, to the large and historic Oaks Park in the south of the borough. In the west of the borough is the large Nonsuch Park. The main parks are:
The A232 is a road running west–east across South London, which connects the A24 in Ewell with the A224 Orpington bypass.
Sutton and Cheam was a local government district in north east Surrey, England from 1882 to 1965.
Sutton High Street is a high street running north–south through the town of Sutton in the London Borough of Sutton.
The Millennium Dial Armillary is one of six pieces of public art located in the town centre of Sutton in Greater London, England. The others include the Sutton heritage mosaic, the Sutton twin towns mural and the Messenger statue.
The Sutton Heritage Mosaic is a large mural in the form of a mosaic situated in Sutton High Street in the town of Sutton in Greater London, England. One of the largest examples of wall art in Britain, it was commissioned by the London Borough of Sutton to celebrate the borough's heritage.
There are four conservation areas within the town of Sutton. One of these is in Sutton town centre - the Sutton Town Centre High Street Crossroads Conservation Area - while the other three are residential: Grove Avenue, Landseer Road and the Sutton Garden Suburb.
Gary Drostle is a British artist specialising in public art, sculpture and mosaic as well as mural painting and drawing. He was also President of the British Association for Modern Mosaic, a lecturer at The Chicago Mosaic School. and is on the editorial board of Andamento the Journal of Contemporary Mosaics.
Elliot Haydn George Colburn is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Carshalton and Wallington since the 2019 general election. Colburn also served as councillor for the Cheam ward on Sutton Council from 2018 to 2022.
