As you stroll along Shepherdess Walk in Hoxton you’ll see some tantalising clues as to the treat in store …
Then you head down steps to what must be one of the most spooky and best-concealed alleys in London …
With a promise of something really special …
Light at the end of the tunnel …
Emerging through the alley into the park you’re met with these stunning artworks. The mosaics were designed by Tessa Hunkin and completed over two years by a huge team of local volunteers (over 150 in total!) …
Unveiled in 2012 to coincide with the London Olympics, the scenes are a celebration of life in Hackney’s parks. Two later pieces on the floor were unveiled in 2013. Tessa Hunkin said proudly …
“We’ve made a little bit of Carthage here in Hoxton. I was inspired by the Roman mosaics of North Africa. It was my idea, I’ve been making mosaics for twenty-five years and I started working with people with mental health problems. I like working with groups of people on large compositions that they can be proud of. Mosaic-making is very time-consuming and laborious, so it seemed a good idea to work with people who have too much time, for whom filling time can be a problem. Also, I’m very interested in the historical precedents and that gives the work another dimension. This project started in July 2011 and it was going to be for six months but, when we came to end of the first mosaic nobody wanted the empty shop that is our workshop, so we just carried on.”
Taking the lyrical name of Shepherdess Walk as a starting point, the first mosaic portrays the shepherdesses that once drove their sheep through here when Hoxton was all fields …
The park itself is fairly recent, with houses standing on the site until around the 1970s. This is starkly different from the early history of the area, which until the late 18th century was rural, as seen in the John Rocque map of 1746 (the red dot shows the site of the park) …
The fields which surrounded this area were used as a route for driving livestock from outside London towards Smithfield meat market (circled above).
A double wall panel illustrates park life throughout the seasons of the year in the East End …
Check out your smartphone messages or do some bird watching …
What could be more Summery than buying a Mr Whippy ice cream, having a picnic or a swim in the lido wearing your smart goggles …
While, underfoot, a pair of pavement mosaics show the wild flowers that persist, all illustrated in superb botanic detail …
Just a few of the artists …
My thanks to the wonderful Katie Bignall of Look Up London and The Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life for inspiring me to visit this beautiful piece of art. Do click on the latter link for some lovely interviews with a few of the artists. If you don’t fancy walking through the alley the mosaics are in the corner of Shepherdess Walk Park (N1 7JN).
Other sights on Shepherdess Walk are some interesting doors and knockers …
… and a pub that features in a famous rhyme : ‘Up and down the City Road, in and out The Eagle; that’s the way the money goes, Pop! goes the weasel’ …
You can read more about the pub and the song in the excellent Londonist blog.
If you would like to follow me on Instagram here is the link …
