Public Monuments and Sculpture in
Stoke-on-Trent & Newcastle-under-Lyme
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Index
of all Stoke-on-Trent art |
St. Peter's community mosaic
at Stoke
Location: Seat / Bench at St Peter's Close, centre of churchyard of St Peter's, close to the remains of the original Saxon Church and between the graves of Josiah Wedgwood and Josiah Spode
Unveiled: 13 October 2000
Artists: Phillip Hardaker, Helen Sayer
Commissioned by: Stoke on Trent City CouncilSee the inscriptions on the bench
The mosaic is built on a low brick plinth.
The structure has a breeze block support and makes use of recycled
Victorian blue bricks as well as slate for the seats on either side.The whole structure is faced in ceramic mosaics,
pieces from local ceramic companies' products, glass beads, and tiles.
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The wildlife depicted on the
right hand end of the bench includes
a bat with outstretched wings, a squirrel, a rabbit, a frog, a snail,
a fox, a butterfly, a robin, a blackbird, a magpie, a hedgehog and a wren.
The left hand end of the bench
commemorates Stanley Matthews and looks forward to the future.
Below two roundels of the footballer, one showing him playing and the
other featuring a head and shoulders of him as a young man,
children have produced several designs featuring spacecraft and robotic
dogs.
Flanking these are plaques commemorating modern industries in the area,
including Michelin and Caudwell Communication, which produces mobile phones.
On the front of the bench,
facing away from the church, are plaques depicting St Peter's Church and
School, interspersed with heads, both European and Asian. The base of the
seat features an image of two men in a boat, with a mast in the shape of an
upside-down cross and two crossed keys (both emblems of St Peter, to whom
the nearby church is dedicated).
The back of the bench
celebrates the industrial heritage of Stoke on Trent. Its designs includes
plaques featuring men in flat caps carrying pots to the kiln on wooden
boards, bottle kilns, pit winding gear and factory chimneys. These are
interspersed with smaller pieces commemorating the pottery produced in the
area. Below the seat, the central design is of two cartoon-like figures in a
canal barge.
See the inscriptions on the bench
Materials
Part of work |
Material |
Dimensions |
---|---|---|
Seat |
Concrete, blue brick, slate, ceramic, mosaics | 1.5m high x 1.8m long x 95cm deep |
Plinth |
Blue bricks | 25cm high x 1.75m diameter |
| Index of all Stoke-on-Trent art |
questions/comments/contributions? email: Steve Birks
11 February 2006