Murals

Andrew Stacey – Westgate Mural, Exeter

Listing: Unlisted
Condition: Destroyed
Material Type: Painted - exterior
Building Type: Residential
Artist / Designer: Andrew Stacey
Owners: Unknown
Date: 1979
Address: 21 New Bridge Street, Exeter EX4 3AQ
Local Authority: Exeter City Council
County: Devon
Country: England

Painted by local artist Alan Stacey in 1979 and restored by him twice subsequently, the mural celebrated the Westgate Festival and was based on festival events that took place in Exeter that year, including the international ‘Festival of Fools’; it featured jugglers, street performers and other local characters depicted in the street and peering out of windows in neighbouring buildings. The piece also played skilful games with perspective, leading the viewer up New Bridge Street into Fore Street – and included distant views of Exeter Cathedral as well as the 1964 Debenhams department store. The mural was a much-loved, welcoming, local landmark located on one of the city’s main entrance routes.  Following reports that the mural was under threat as the building owner sought to resolve problems with damp in the wall, C20 Society gave support to a preservation campaign and obtained specialist advice but disappointingly the mural was covered with a layer of insulation and render, fixed through the surface of the mural, in October 2014.