Mural At Former Cromwell Secondary School

Relief mural depicting a stylised 'Tree of Knowledge', created in 1962 by Alan Boyson. The mural is made of ceramic and concrete with red tiles and pebbles, and measures approximately 7 metres by 7 metres. It is located on the north end wall of the former Cromwell Secondary School.

The mural is fixed onto blockwork within a concrete frame, with materials set into mortar covering the blockwork. The background consists of dark blue and red ceramic fragments. The design features 6 inches deep and 3 inches wide black concrete ribs cast straight onto metal mesh screwed to the blockwork, outlining the tree and its interior features. The tree itself is depicted in light-coloured ceramic fragments with the trunk outlined in red tile fragments. Large smooth pebbles are incorporated into the branches. Six irregular hexagonal motifs flank the tree trunk, containing circular geometrical-patterned designs representing flowers in blue and light-coloured ceramics. A further similarly styled motif sits above the trunk at the centre. Two birds sit in the tree on each side: those in the upper part are positioned horizontally and face to the right (west), while those in the lower part are positioned vertically with their heads pointing downwards. A stylised owl of wisdom sits at the centre top of the tree with a striped body and large eyes, all featuring incised decoration and tin glaze.

Cromwell Secondary School for Girls opened in 1962, designed by Cruickshank & Seward of Manchester and constructed by W. Fearnley & Sons. The architects commissioned Alan Boyson (born 1930) to produce both the exterior mural and a ceramic tiled wall for the entrance hall at a cost of £400. The ceramic tiles have since been lost. The mural design incorporated water-worn pebbles from Ice-Age deposits and historic ceramic fragments found on the site prior to the school's construction. The school later changed names and eventually became part of Salford University, which vacated the site around 2008.

Boyson trained at the Manchester Regional School of Art from 1950 to 1954 under ceramicist Lester Campion, and subsequently at the Royal College of Art from 1954 to 1957 under Robert Baker, Professor of Ceramics. After his studies, he lectured in the Ceramics Department at Wolverhampton School of Art from around 1959 to 1961, during which time he established his own studio and began producing studio work and small commissions. The Cromwell School mural was his first major commission, leading to numerous large-scale works across the country. Other commissions by Boyson included the 'Three Ships' mural on a former Co-operative building in Hull (locally listed); a ceramic tiled wall and two concrete screens at another school in Salford; a ceramic memorial at the Birmingham Oratory; a sculptured aluminium banking hall ceiling at the Bank of England in Leeds; a stainless steel piece in the NatWest Tower in London (late 1970s); a glass screen and decorative ceiling in the Halifax Building Society headquarters in Halifax (1970s). Two of his works survive in listed buildings: an abstract Art Deco-style memorial window in the grade II listed St Ann's Church in Manchester, and a decorative concrete mural in the grade II listed Co-operative Insurance Society Building in Manchester. Boyson is an Associate of the Royal College of Art and continued producing large-scale works until around 1999 and small-scale works until around 2004.