Ceramic mural of Bradford has new home at Salts Mill

The eight ft mural, depicting the canal basin at Forster Square in the 1890s, was created by German artist Grete Marks. The second woman to train at the famous Bauhaus school of art and design, Grete was a Jewish refugee who fled to England in the Second World War. In the 1960s she was commissioned by Bradford Corporation to design the mural for its Central House offices.

Based on a Victorian watercolour by Bradford artist Neil Stuart Crichton, the ceramic artwork captures an industrial scene in an area of the city now completely changed. When Central House, on the old Broadway site, was demolished in 2004 the mural was moved to Cheapside offices of Bradford Community Trust, which later became the housing provider Incommunities.

Initially displayed in reception, it was moved around the building and ended up behind a false wall.

“When the building closed and we vacated it, someone remembered the artwork. It was moved to our warehouse, where it stayed for 10 years,” said Paul Egan, Head of Business Support in Property Services at Incommunities. “Ironically, the warehouse was on Canal Road - and the mural depicts the old canal basin. We’re delighted it has found a home at Salts Mill.”

The restored mural has been installed at the Salts Mill entrance, in a frame designed by Bradford firm Iron Octopus.

A canal boat detail of the mural (Image: Newsquest)

Cleaning and mending the mural has been a labour of love for esteemed ceramics restorer Fiona J Hutchinson, who worked on it for two years. “It’s my biggest project - I’m more used to working with pots,” said Fiona, who does restorations for the National Trust. “I was approached by Maggie Silver at Salts Mill in 2022 about restoring the ceramic.

"Salts Mill have been phenomenal in creating a workshop for me here, in an old mill shed. The mural was very dirty, from years of dust. It had been removed with an angle grinder, it’s a wonder it didn’t fall apart. I was handed a cardboard box full of pieces, I didn’t know if they’d all be there, and I had to make them fit. Some were detached, some broken. I took each one off, cleaned it and put it back on. It was like a jigsaw puzzle.

"It came to life as I worked on it. It was fantastic watching the people appear, I didn’t know they were there at first.”

Fiona working on the eight ft mural (Image: Fiona Hutchinson)

The incredible detail on mural includes window panes, brickwork, the Cathedral clock and children huddled in a canal boat. “As I worked on it, I felt I got to know Grete Marks,” said Fiona. “She put numbers on the back of each piece, marked in clay, and you can see the dents of her fingers.

"It has been a privilege to restore this extraordinary artwork. It’s wonderful to see it in this perfect setting, with the light setting off all the detail.”

Zoe Silver at Salts Mill said: "We have a lot of ceramics here and we knew we'd love this one when we heard about it. We were also interested in the story of Grete Marks.

"Fiona is one of only two people in the country who could restore this mural. She's done an incredible job." 

Graham Kemp at Salts Mill has researched the Crichton painting, and Grete’s work. “She did two murals of Bradford. We’ve no idea where the other one is,” he said. “It could be propping up a wall in another warehouse...”