Cwmbran

The Henry and Joyce Collins mural in Cwmbran is unique in two ways as far as I am aware - it is the only one of their concrete murals outside of England, and it is the only one not at pedestrian level.

Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949, and the concrete mural very much matches with the local aesthetic.

The mural is in Gwent Square in the main shopping area. There are three panels set at first floor height on Gwent House - because of the tree planting and other obstacles it is difficult to get a picture of the whole mural.

Each of the three panels is made up of ten smaller ones. Perhaps because of the height of mounting, there is much less detail in in many of the other works of Henry and Joyce Collins that we have looked at. The Cwmbran mural also makes much greater use of repeated motifs.

The left-hand panel is centred around two figures set against red backgrounds.

I assume that the figure on the left represents the local tribe, whilst the right-hand figure is a soldier from the Roman 2nd Legion. This was the Augusta Legions, based at Isca Augusta, now known as Caerleon.

Surrounding these two figures are panels showing a castle....

….local industry, including iron and steel....

….and various tools.

There is a similar arrangement on the middle panel, although this time there is the addition of the Welsh dragon.

The main figures are again military personnel.

The right-hand panel again has two figures surrounded by the repeated motifs. However this time the figures are not military ones, but are of a religious person and a miner.

The industry panel is included eight times, but in two different orientations.

The castle panel is used fives times, and the tools are shown four times.

Photographs taken on 16 July 2019.

Droitwich

Droitwich Spa is a short distance from our previous visit to a Henry and Joyce Collins' concrete mural in Worcester. This mural dates from 1976, and is located in the St Andrew's Square shopping centre. Originally a commission for Sainsbury's, the store is now a branch of Wilkinsons.

The Droitwich Spa mural is much smaller than the example we have just seen in Worcester, and forms just one panel (although of course it is actually made up of a series of individual panels).

As always, let's try and decode some of the history shown. Starting with Salinae, which is the Roman name for Droitwich.

And unless that is some form of synchronised swimming, the figures in the blue section represent bathing in the brine baths. Rock salt and brine has been extracted in Droitwich since Roman times, and the local brine is said to be the strongest natural salt water known.

Below the Droitwich coat of arms is the motto "Sal sapit omnia", which translates as salt seasons everything. And below that is "Wychavon", the name of the local district council.

The next section of the mural shows King Ethelbald (King of Wessex, dies 860) granting Evesham Abbey the right to a Droitwich salt pit.

According to the Droitwich spa website (www.droitwichspa.com), these next two figures are "King John who gave a charter, granting salt rights, to the burgesses of Droitwich in 1215, and St Richard in his bishop’s robes."

Salwarpe is the river which flows through the town, whilst Middlewic, Helperic and Upwic were the locations of salt wells.

The coat of arms are those of Hereford and Worcester.

The ship is the Mayflower. Edward Winslow, born in Droitwich in 1595, was one of the Pilgrim Fathers who sailed to America on this ship in 1620.

The Royal Brine Baths were opened in 1836, whilst the motif below it celebrates the reign of Queen Victoria.

Underneath the pot below the penny and shilling coins is the signature of Henry and Joyce Collins, dated 1976. Although in this case the order is Joyce and Henry Collins, not the other way round.

Photographs taken on 15 July 2019.