On Saturday I shared a mosaic for 6WS, and mentioned there was mural around the corner. So today I thought we could return and have a look at The Hamtun Street Mural. It is a wonderful example of post-war mural art that was being commissioned following the Festival of Britain in 1951, and continued to appear up until the 1980s.

It was created in concrete and glass by Henry and Joyce Collins, and was installed in 1978 on the facade of a new Sainsbury’s supermarket. They were inspired by Southampton’s history and was one of many they created to adorn supermarkets, home stores, office buildings and public walls around the UK.

As you may have spotted this one no longer adorns a Sainsbury’s supermarket. It was moved when the store was refurbished, and fortunately the move was into storage rather than a rubbish tip which is where many have ended up. In 2011 the city council decided to bring it out of storage, and after restoration by ceramic artist Oliver Budd was installed here.

35 thoughts

  7. Sad in a way Sainsburys did not have  it stored and incorporate it in their refurbished Store. Thankfully it did not finish  up on  a rubbish tip

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  10. So is Southampton a place where you used to live? Not tempted to return there? I like the fact the mural wasn’t destroyed, though it looks difficult to photograph. Is this another clue for September Squares? Street art?

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    1. Never lived here but lived the other side of water in Cowes for a few years, and just up the road in Winchester for even longer so visited regularly.

      Hee hee some street art would probably fit the theme, but it isn’t the theme!

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      1. I’m not sure I have ever been to Southampton, though I have a vague idea mum and I went shopping there whilst on holiday in the New Forest on a rainy day. I would have been very young. We toyed with the idea of moving to the IOW but decided the ferry fares were too expensive.

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  13. Well this is fabulous. And how good that it was salvaged and redisplayed. And you’re right. Becoming a tourist in a place that was once a home-ish patch is an interesting experience. It often opens our eyes to what we’ve missed by over-familiarity. Not I suppose, that Southampton is over-familiar.

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