'Irreplaceable' mural could be lost to demolition

A mosaic mural depicting a county's history could be lost when an ageing council headquarters is knocked down, campaigners have warned.

The artwork sits on the side of Durham County Hall, which is being vacated ahead of its demolition next year.

The council's strategic manager of culture Dr Sarah Glynn said the mural had become "cracked" and moving it without causing more damage would be "almost impossible".

But Bennett Zon, who is leading a campaign to save it, said the artwork was "irreplaceable" and called to "stop the rollers from demolishing the mosaic".

"In its current position it is slightly hidden but it needs to be moved somewhere where everyone will see it," the Durham University professor said.

"It needs to become the icon of the city that really it was designed to represent in the 1963 building."

The artwork depicts key moments and figures from the county's history, including the Venerable Bede and the founding of Durham Cathedral.

Zon said the mosaic was one of the earliest examples of digital design in the country and its imagery "anticipated" the look of video arcade games from the 1970s.

"If they demolish this, that's it," he said.

"I just think it's such a potent symbol of Durham as a city and as a county and as a county within a country.

"If they destroy it, there aren't going to be little saplings that grow back from it."

Glynn said conventional conservation methods were not viable for the artwork.

She said the only option would be to cut it into sections, which carried "significant risk" of damage and "health and safety concerns due to the likelihood of asbestos".

"Logistically, transporting, reconstructing, and reinstalling the mural would be highly complex and come with considerable costs, with no guarantee of achieving a sympathetic final result," she added.

A petition to the council to protect the artwork runs until 27 July.

Campaigners are trying to raise £250,000 to remove, restore, and relocate the mural following a meeting with the local authority earlier this week.

The C20 Society, Durham City Trust, the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Association, City of Durham Parish Council and Jackfield Conservation Studio have also backed the rescue efforts.

"I think at the moment what we need to do is to just take a breath, stop the rollers from demolishing the mosaic, take stock of what we can do, have some reports from genuine specialists, and then move to the next phase," Zon said.

Glynn said a "comprehensive" recording of the mosaic, including high-resolution photography and detailed documentation, had been carried out and would be publicly available at cultural venue The Story.

The artwork shares a similar fate to a"3D" map mural inside the building, which could not be moved for similar reasons.

However, the local authority has said it was not believed this artwork "held any design or historical significance".

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