This is a list of public artworks in the former Metropolitan Borough of Paddington in London, now a part of the City of Westminster.
Map of public art in Paddington
Bayswater is a largely residential district north-west of Charing Cross, bordering with the northern end of Kensington Gardens. Its essential character is now defined by the stuccoed terraces erected from 1827 onwards, which spread in a westerly direction over the course of the 19th century.[1]
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Architect / other | Type | Designation | Notes |
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Eagle | Orme Square 51°30′37″N 0°11′23″W / 51.5103°N 0.1897°W |
1814 | ? | ? | Sculpture on pillar | — | The square is named after Edward Orme, a Bond Street print seller, who also sold two ship-loads of building gravel to Tsar Alexander I of Russia, when he visited London in 1814, and Orme built the square in the same year. The eagle dates from then. Its meaning is a mystery; it is not the eagle from the Orme family crest, and has only one head, so is definitely not the Russian imperial eagle.[2] | |
Drinking fountain | Bayswater Road, opposite Elms Mews 51°30′41″N 0°10′36″W / 51.5114°N 0.1766°W |
1872 | ? | — | Drinking fountain | Grade II | [3] | |
War memorial | St John's Church, Hyde Park Crescent 51°30′41″N 0°10′48″W / 51.5115°N 0.1801°W |
after 1919 | ? | — | Cross | Grade II | Commemorates parishioners who died in World War I.[4] | |
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Lancaster Gate Memorial Cross Statues of Saints George, Louis, Maurice, Longinus, Adrian, Florian and Eustace |
Lancaster Gate 51°30′41″N 0°10′48″W / 51.5115°N 0.1801°W |
1921 | Laurence Arthur Turner | Walter Tapper | Memorial | Grade II | Unveiled 27 March 1921. Commemorates residents of the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington who gave their lives in World War I. Severely damaged in the Great Storm of 1987. Re-erected on present site on 11 November 2002.[5] |
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Memorial to Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath | Lancaster Gate 51°30′40″N 0°10′48″W / 51.5112°N 0.1800°W |
1934 | Joseph Hermon Cawthra | — | Memorial | Grade II | Unveiled 24 May 1934.[6] The inscription on the east face reads, "One King, One Empire, Empire Day"; that on the north, "To him the British Empire was a goodly heritage to be fashioned unto a city of God!"[7] |
Coronation of the Virgin | Our Lady Queen of Heaven, Queensway 51°30′42″N 0°11′14″W / 51.5118°N 0.1873°W |
mid–late 20th century[8] | ? | ? | Mosaic | Grade II | Donated by Mrs Catherine Weston. Built as the United Methodist Free Church, the church was converted to Catholic use in 1954.[9] | |
Tempesta | The Lancasters, Bayswater Road 51°30′39″N 0°10′55″W / 51.5108°N 0.1819°W |
2012 (unveiled) | Helaine Blumenfeld | — | Sculpture | — | Unveiled 2 May 2012. Carved from Carrara marble at Studio Sem in Pietrasanta, Tuscany, the work stands at 4m high.[10] | |
Bust of Skanderbeg | Lady Samuel's Garden, Inverness Terrace 51°30′50″N 0°11′13″W / 51.5139°N 0.1869°W |
2012 | Kreshuik Xhiku | — | Bust | — | Unveiled 28 November 2012. Marks the centenary of Albanian independence.[11][12]
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Maida Vale is an area of residential terraces and mansion blocks, defined at its southern end by the Regent's and Grand Union Canals.[13]
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Architect / other | Type | Designation | Notes |
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Memorial cross | St Mark's Church, Hamilton Terrace 51°31′54″N 0°10′57″W / 51.5318°N 0.1824°W |
after 1918 | ? | ? | War memorial | Grade II | Commemorates parishioners who died in World War I.[14] | |
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Two Doves | Warwick Crescent | 1965 | William Mitchell / Malcolm Thackwray | Malcolm Thackwray | Relief concrete sculpture | — | Adjacent plaque reads IN MEMORY OF ROBERT BROWNING/ TWO DOVES/ SYMBOLISING/ PEACE LOVE AND LEARNING.[15][16] |
System No. 12 | 4 Maida Vale 51°31′35″N 0°10′43″W / 51.5263°N 0.1786°W |
2006 | Julian Wild | EDCO Design[17] | Sculpture | — | A commission by the property developers Crest Nicholson.[18] | |
Mural | Westminster Drug Project, Harrow Road 51°31′26″N 0°12′01″W / 51.5237723°N 0.2002255°W |
2009 | "Bleach", "Busk" and "Zadok" (from the Elsewhere Collective) | — | Mural | — | [19]
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Paddington is the area west of Marylebone, in the postal district W2. Much of the recent public art in the area is connected to the Paddington Waterside developments.
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Architect / other | Type | Designation | Notes |
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Peace, Plenty, Science and Industry | Hilton London Paddington, Praed Street | 1854 | John Thomas | Philip Charles Hardwick | Architectural sculpture | Grade II | [20] | |
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Statue of Sarah Siddons | Paddington Green 51°31′13″N 0°10′27″W / 51.5203°N 0.1741°W |
1897 | Léon-Joseph Chavalliaud | — | Statue | Grade II | Unveiled 14 June 1897 by Henry Irving.[21] Modelled after Sir Joshua Reynolds’s portrait Mrs Siddons as the Tragic Muse (1783), now in the Huntington Library in California. Siddons attended St Mary's Church on the Green and is buried in the churchyard, near her statue.[22] |
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Great Western Railway War Memorial | Facing Platform 1, Paddington station 51°31′02″N 0°10′42″W / 51.5171°N 0.1782°W |
1922 | Charles Sargeant Jagger | Thomas S. Tait | Stone screen with statue | Grade I | Unveiled 11 November 1922 (Armistice Day) by Viscount Churchill.[23] The figure of a soldier stands reading a letter from home in front of a panel of black marble, suggesting the entrance to a trench dugout.[24] |
War memorial | St Mary Magdalene's Church, Rowington Close 51°31′20″N 0°11′20″W / 51.5223°N 0.1888°W |
1929 | Martin Travers | Calvary | — | [25] | ||
World War II Memorial Gates | Norfolk Place, between St Mary's Hospital and medical school 51°31′02″N 0°10′23″W / 51.5171°N 0.1730°W |
1950 (unveiled) | Charles Wheeler | — | Wrought iron gates | — | Unveiled 20 July 1950.[26] | |
Paddington Boy Scouts Memorial | Paddington Recreation Ground 51°31′45″N 0°11′27″W / 51.5291°N 0.1909°W |
1952 (unveiled) | ? | — | War memorial | — | Commemorates the Boy Scouts of Paddington killed in World War II. The symbol of a circle with a dot in the centre is a sign used by Scouts meaning "gone home".[27] | |
Mural | Paddington Green Police Station | 1971 | John Innes Elliott | Mural | — | [28] | ||
Murals | Westway flyover, near Royal Oak tube station 51°31′11″N 0°11′26″W / 51.5197°N 0.1905°W |
1976–1977 | Public Art Workshop (Desmond Rochford and David Savage)[29] | — | Murals | — | Dedicated "to the working people of Paddington",[30] these were, at the time of their completion, the largest exterior murals in England.[31] A critic for the Observer noted shortly after their completion that "a large dose of social realism has done wonders for the grey desert of Royal Oak".[30] | |
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Statue of Isambard Kingdom Brunel | Paddington station | 1982 | John Doubleday | — | Statue | — | Unveiled 26 May 1982. One of two statues of Brunel commissioned by the Bristol & West building society; its companion, a standing figure, was unveiled in Bristol the same day.[32] Originally stood on the main concourse at the entrance to the Underground; relocated in 1998.[22] |
Tile motifs | Paddington station | 1984–1987 | David Hamilton | ? | Overprinted industrial ceramic tiles | — | The scheme reproduces patent drawings for Marc Isambard Brunel's early tunnelling shield for the Thames Tunnel, a precursor to those used for the London Underground.[33] | |
The Messenger, or Getting Back on the Right Foot | In front of St Mary’s Hospital, South Wharf Road 51°31′04″N 0°10′27″W / 51.5177°N 0.1742°W |
1993 | Allan Sly | — | Statue | — | [34][35] | |
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Walking Man and Standing Man | Paddington Central 51°31′12″N 0°10′48″W / 51.5199°N 0.1800°W |
1998 and 2000 | Sean Henry | — | Statues | — | [36] |
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Statue of Paddington Bear | Paddington station | 2000 | Marcus Cornish | — | Statue | — | Unveiled 24 February 2000 by Michael Bond, the character's creator.[37] Represents his first appearance in A Bear Called Paddington (1958), sitting on a battered suitcase with a label round his neck reading "Please look after this bear. Thank you."[22] |
The Family | Sheldon Square, Paddington Central 51°31′10″N 0°10′49″W / 51.5195°N 0.1803°W |
2001 | Jon Buck | — | Sculptural group | — | Another cast is situated at Milton Keynes General Hospital.[36][38] | |
Untitled (Yellow) | One Kingdom Street, Paddington Central 51°31′09″N 0°10′54″W / 51.5192°N 0.1818°W |
2001 | Stephen Gontarski | — | Sculpture | — | Made of glass fibre painted bright yellow and lacquered, the sculpture is intended to invite a "corporeal reception by the public" and to "create a heart in the midst of an urban setting."[39] | |
Lock, Level, Line | West End Quay, Paddington Basin 51°31′07″N 0°10′17″W / 51.5185°N 0.1715°W |
2004 | Danny Lane | — | Sculptures | — | The work consists of four towers made from stacked corten steel and layered glass, which are intended to reflect the changing levels of water in the lock.[40] | |
Clove 2007 | Cleveland Terrace 51°31′03″N 0°10′48″W / 51.5174°N 0.1800°W |
2007 | Bryan Kneale | — | Sculpture | — | [41] | |
Billy Bob & Mishke | Paddington Central 51°31′09″N 0°10′58″W / 51.5192°N 0.1829°W |
2008 | Gary Webb | — | Sculpture | — | Pendant sculptures, located in water features at the extreme edge of the Paddington Central development, of metal frameworks which support "blobs" of steel, painted in bright colours.[36][39] | |
Europea 1 and Europea 2 | Paddington Central 51°31′09″N 0°10′52″W / 51.5191°N 0.1810°W |
2008 | John Aiken | — | Sculptures | — | Twin sculptures fashioned from Portuguese silver-grey granite with coloured enamel panels attached.[36][39] | |
Panels | Lindo Wing, St Mary's Hospital 51°31′03″N 0°10′28″W / 51.5175°N 0.1744°W |
2012[42] | Julian Opie | — | Panels | — | Opie wished to go against the general trend of artworks in hospitals by producing works with the aim "not to calm but rather to enliven".[43] | |
Mary Seacole, Alan Turing and Michael Bond (pictured) | St Mary's Square 51°31′13″N 0°10′36″W / 51.5203°N 0.1768°W |
2013 | ? | — | Statues | — | Three two-dimensional steel statues of notable people who lived in Paddington, as voted for by local residents. From the Portrait Bench series of similar sculptures, commissioned by the charity Sustrans to stand along new cycling routes.[44] | |
Bearing Up | Sheldon Square, Paddington Central | 2014 | ? | — | Statue | — | Originally part of the Paddington Trail, which marked the release of the film Paddington. The blue colour represents the nearby Grand Union Canal.[45] | |
Brick Bear | Merchant Square, Paddington Basin | 2014 | Robin Partington and Partners | — | Statue | — | Also from the Paddington Trail, the statue is decorated all over with a pattern of London stock bricks, suggested by the architects of the surrounding development.[45] | |
Statue of Simon Milton | Merchant Square, Paddington Basin | 2014 | Bruce Denny | — | Statue | — | Unveiled 11 September 2014 by Eric Pickles.[46] Milton played an instrumental role in the regeneration of Paddington Basin and was a friend of the sculptor.[47] | |
Mural | Westway Flyover Cycleway | 2014 | Robert Dawson | Ceramic mural | — | Includes a portrait of Brunel, a geometric pattern based on the Crossrail logo and other references to the area.[48] | ||
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Paddington Bear Book Bench | Paddington station | 2014 | Michelle Heron | — | Painted bench in the shape of an open book | — | Originally part of the National Literacy Trust's Books About Town art trail and now on permanent loan to the station.[45][49] |
A Cloud Index | Elizabeth line entrance, Paddington station | 2016 | Spencer Finch | Weston Williamson | Design printed onto glass canopy | — | 60 pastel drawings of clouds reproduced on 180 glass panels on a 120m-long canopy; one of the largest permanent artworks ever created in London. Installation began in 2017.[50][51] | |
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Message from the Unseen World Alan Turing |
Bishop's Bridge Road underpass, Paddington Central | 2016 | United Visual Artists | Nick Drake (poem) | Installation | — | Perforated aluminium panels with LEDs displaying extracts from Turing's paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" (1950) as patterns based on Baudot code, combined with a poem specially commissioned from Drake.[52] |
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Abundance | Amphitheatre, Sheldon Square, Paddington Central | 2023 | Adam Nathaniel Furman | Installation | — | A 50m-long curving wall made from metal sheets in bright colours.[53] | |
Mural | Grand Union Canal 51°31′22″N 0°11′31″W / 51.5228°N 0.1919°W |
Kevin Herlihy | — | Mural | — | Made of debris collected by Stowe Youth Club.[54] | ||
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Yellow Orange Hermit | Paddington Square | 2024 | Ugo Rondinone | — | Sculpture | — | [55][56] |
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Somethinging | Paddington Square | 2024 | Pae White | — | Sculpture | — | [55]
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