WALL STORIES

Deptford is unusually rich in Second World War air raid shelter signs. The most prominent is on the wall of St Paul’s House, part of developer U+I’s Market Yard scheme. It gained national attention after being inadvertently repainted by overzealous workmen in 2018.

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Lockdown has given architectural photojournalist Gareth Gardner the opportunity to explore his local neighbourhood with a camera. Deptford’s rich history is there for all to see, thanks in no small part to its painted walls. With a multitude of architectural styles rubbing up against each other, it’s always stimulating to walk Deptford’s streets. Within moments a pedestrian might encounter the gothic medieval tower of St Nicholas Church (where murdered dramatist Christopher Marlowe was buried in 1593) and the shimmering 2003 Stirling Prize-winning Laban dance centre. The south-east London neighbourhood boasts landmarks of brutalism and baroque, yet remains unappreciated compared to its loftier neighbours Greenwich and Blackheath. It’s not just the buildings themselves that help to tell the story of Deptford, but the pigments that have been applied to their walls. From faded ghost signs to modern murals, the area’s rich history is told through layers of paint. Pounding the pavements is an education in Deptford’s maritime past and multicultural present. The painted walls provide a sense of place to an area undergoing rapid change.

The painted shutters of the Anchor Barber Shop depict a historic anchor which was installed at the southern end of the High Street in 1988. It became the area’s most visible landmark before being controversially removed during redevelopment works in 2013. After five years of petitions and protests, the anchor was finally reinstated in 2018.

In 2018, Spanish graffiti artist Daniel Fernàndez (known as Tutti) completed this artwork on the shutters of the Commando Temple gym. It depicts Copita de Nieve (Snowflake), a famous albino gorilla kept at Barcelona Zoo.

Created by Gary Drostle in 1989, Love Over Gold celebrates local band Dire Straits, who played their first gig in the adjacent Crossfield Estate. The mural was painted onto the front of a building now occupied by crafts business incubator Cockpit Arts.

Largely built in the late 1930s, the long-neglected Crossfield Estate - where these plant murals adorn the walls of Congers House – was given a new lease of life in the 1970s when it was used to house single professional people, largely drawn from the creative and education sectors. This helped to inspire Deptford’s creative renaissance as a hotspot for radical music and art.

This mural extends around three sides of the Riverside Youth Club. The building’s distinctive roof forms, inspired by oast houses, appear in the background of one of Tony Ray-Jones’s iconic images of the brutalist Pepys Estate, commissioned by the Architectural Review in 1970.

Now partly damaged, this enormous reproduction of 18th century oil painting The Royal George at Deptford, by painter John Cleverley the Elder, was installed on the scruffy back walls of shops in 2009 as part of Lewisham Council’s Frankham Street regeneration project. It’s a reminder of Deptford’s past as a major centre for maritime activity and home of the Royal Dockyard.

Another ghost air raid shelter sign is found on Frankham Street, pointing towards a public surface shelter that has long since disappeared.

Located on Alpha Road, just off the A2 as it cuts through Deptford, this huge ghost sign for Bryant and May safety matches remains in surprisingly good condition.

Deptford’s most famous painted wall is the His’n’Hers Mural, overlooking Giffin Square. Created in 2002 and restored in 2013, the mural is the work of Argentine artist Patricio Forrester, of prolific south London public art organisation Artmongers.

Running alongside the railway line, a footpath leading to the Ha’penny Hatch footbridge across Deptford Creek is enlivened by an everchanging display of vibrant graffiti artworks adorning the in-filled arches.

The much-faded remains of an air raid shelter sign on a bridge crossing the railway at Tanner’s Hill.

Neighbouring buildings on the High Street have been given paint jobs by public art organisation Artmongers. Such distinctive designs might not be to everyone’s taste but help to create a sense of place for an area undergoing rapid regeneration. The first to be given a makeover was “bent tin” shop El Cheap ‘Ou, which was painted for the 2013 edition of local annual art festival Deptford X.

The Pink Palace Mural dates from 1983 and can be found upon the end wall of Frankham House, decorating the entrance to the Crossfield Tenants and Residents Association community space. Artists from the South London Murals Group worked with local residents on the trompe l’oeil design.

A giant ghost sign, for Lipton’s Tea, can be found on Mornington Road. The surviving section was hidden under a billboard for many years.

Another Artmongers creation, The Deptford Arena on New Cross Road celebrates a street corner infamous for drunken, unruly behaviour. The remains of an earlier mural can be seen above.

Remains of a Second World War air raid shelter sign on the corner of a former pub on Comet Street. Nearby is the 2019 Comet Street Mural depicting multiculturalism through the boxes of produce from around the world which are sold at Deptford Market.

A detail from the Riverside Youth Club.

Gareth Gardner Gallery, dedicated to exhibiting photography of architecture and the man-altered landscape, is located in Deptford. More information at garethgardner.com