Mural at City of London Academy

Mural at City of London Academy

This mural, created around 1964 by William Mitchell, is located on the outward-facing wall of the gymnasium building at the City of London Academy (formerly Tudor School, then Islington Green School) on Packington Street. The gymnasium was designed by Scherrer and Hicks and completed in 1969.

The mural measures approximately 34 feet (10.4 metres) by 14 feet (4.3 metres) and is a semi-abstract mosaic composed of tile, broken china, glass and tesserae mounted on a concrete backing. The design features a large pair of compasses with a circular hinge containing the image of a face, surrounded by the inscription "James I made a river from Hertfordshire to Islington Pond". This refers to the New River, a Stuart-sponsored waterway constructed in 1613, which originally flowed past Packington Street at its westernmost end.

The left section of the mural features geometric and circular patterns determined by the round shape of the compass hinge, including a yellow section resembling a crown. The two spikes of the compass are painted in black and white stripes and project towards the right section, which depicts a large fish encircled by geometric patterns evoking river life and plants. The mosaic combines sections of solid colour made from different-sized fragments of the same original piece with areas arranged in striped or geometric patterns. The composition includes ceramic mouldings and one intact decorative tile, though most pieces are two-dimensional.

William Mitchell was one of two artists employed by the London County Council between 1953 and 1965 to collaborate with LCC architects in producing decorative finishes and artworks for new schools, housing estates and hospitals. His work encompassed reliefs, murals, and signage, with material costs absorbed into normal building budgets. This mural was originally one of a pair; the second mural, which was positioned further east along Packington Street on the same building, has since been demolished.

Scherrer and Hicks had prior familiarity with Mitchell's work, having incorporated a decorative concrete wall by him as the centrepiece of the reception area in their Lee Valley Water Works building of 1964. Several other works by Mitchell have been listed separately, including relief heads at Harlow Civic Centre Water Gardens and the free-standing sculpture "Corn King and Spring Queen" in Wexham, South Buckinghamshire. Additional Mitchell works are included in the special interest designations of other listed buildings, notably the doors of the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool, the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Clifton, Bristol, the Egyptian escalator at Harrods in Knightsbridge, and the auditorium of the Curzon Cinema in Mayfair.