Following bad news from Hull that sculpture Alan Boyson's incredible work Three Ships is to be demolished, there's new hope in Salford that his first ever large scale work, the The Tree of Knowledge, will be enhanced as the centrepiece of a new affordable housing estate created by the Broughton Trust.
Ten years ago The Tree of Knowledge, commissioned by Cromwell School in the early 1960s, was hours from being demolished as Salford City Council bulldozers were poised to knock it down with the rest of the building, left empty after the University of Salford moved out.*
However, following a massive community outcry and publicity by the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society (TACS) and the Salford Star, the demolition was halted, and the sculpture was subsequently Grade II listed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport as a "rare surviving example of a bespoke 1960s ceramic mural" with a "high level of aesthetic and artistic quality".
Included in the mural design are water-worn pebbles from Ice-Age deposits and historic ceramic fragments that were found on the site prior to the school's construction. Since it was listed, The Tree of Knowledge has been left free standing and infested with pigeons, while the surrounding land has turned into a glass and weed covered eyesore.
It hasn't stopped a busload of tourists coming specially to view the mural a few years ago, while The Lowry and Walk The Plank have recently run an event centred on Boyson's celebrated work near the Cromwell roundabout in Charlestown.
Now the Broughton Trust has stepped in to hopefully showcase the sculpture as part of a new affordable housing development that will be a ground breaking partnership between the Trust, Salford City Council, which owns the land, and Homes England.
"The Council is in full support and is backing it" says Mike Thorpe, Chief Executive of the Broughton Trust charity "It will become an affordable housing area of up to 42 properties but that may be less, depending on what the architects say as, because it's affordable, we simply don't want to cram them in, we want it to be a nice enjoyable living space too.
"It's going to be ground breaking as, not only are we guaranteeing it to be affordable but the added value is the involvement of people later on, so there will be people who live on there on the board" he adds "We also know there's a massive shortage of single person properties so we want to work with the Council, perhaps to help young people in the care system, supporting them through youth work or education and getting them into full time work. If they want to move on later they can, or stay for life. The houses will be properly affordable within the local housing market."
The Tree of Knowledge itself cannot be moved, so the Trust and the architects are looking at several options...One is to build around the mural and then incorporate it into the buildings in some way, or to incorporate it from the start, or to leave it as a free standing centrepiece with benches so people can sit and admire it. Whatever the outcome, it would be a fitting tribute to its creator Alan Boyson, who unfortunately died last year.
It is hoped that the plans for the development will be available by the end of November. So far, Homes England has funded a £42,000 feasibility study, the Council is committed to donating the land, and there's a possibility that the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts England might contribute towards protecting The Tree of Knowledge.
It's all part of a new way of building affordable houses, with the private sector unreliable, and the housing associations morphing into huge, almost private, companies. This is the Third Sector becoming involved, building and managing properties based on their ethics.
"There's lots still to be ironed out" says Mike Thorpe "But we would like to consult with owner occupiers in the streets directly at the side of the site and across the road in the streets behind the post office and Martin's. We would like people to get involved and contact us with their views..."
Please send any comments to office@thebroughtontrust.org.uk
* For a full background on The Tree of Knowledge see previous Salford Star articles...
Salford Tree of Knowledge Saved! – click here
Tree of Knowledge Sculptor Alan Boyson Passes Away - click here
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