Historic Graffiti: Georgian Graffiti & Political Discontent

"TIME YOU'VE ENJOYED WASTING
ISN'T WASTED TIME"

Advice from a graffiti artist beneath the M6 between Aston and Bromford. The concrete pillars of this 'underneath place' form canvases for graffiti, hidden from anyone but the most intrepid explorer (I was there following the River Tame through Birmingham). 

Graffiti is nothing new though (see this post about graffiti on Aston Church), and in Birmingham Archive there's a document where manufacturer and museum keeper, James Bisset, recorded the changing inscriptions on Birmingham's walls in the late 1700s. In the 1780s the inscriptions "BUCKLES" and "NO SHOE STRINGS" reveal how the waning fashion for shoe buckles was affecting local artisans who were going out of business and struggling financially. Many Birmingham buckle makers petitioned the King, who promised to wear buckles and not shoe laces, but fashion is a cruel mistress, and 'shoe strings' won the day.

In Anticipation of Absence: New Lost Birmingham at Central Library

The paintings that adorn Central Library at present (2012), seem to me to be saying 'goodbye' to it as much as marking its presence. The building will be replaced in the next few years, but at present it "converses" with neighbouring buildings and objects, such as in the reflections of the Council House in its glass (different from every angle), and the red of this years flowers which compliments the red berries.

The murals on the library are by Lucy Mclauchlan.

Grafitti on Aston Church

The church of St.Peter and St. Paul in Aston is one of only two Birmingham churches mentioned in the Domesday Book; the other being St. Laurence's in Northfield. Although the majority of the edifice was rebuilt in the Gothic style by J. A. Chatwin between 1879 and 1890 some of the spire dates back to the fourteenth century, and carries with it some traces of people who wished to leave their mark. Were W. M. and M. B. in love, perhaps they were about to be married; on 12th April 1836 a William Millets married a Mary Ann Bates at the Aston church.*

The base of the spire is covered with old graffiti, which I'm sure the council wont be painting over any time soon; some nearly 250 years old. Click on the images to enlarge them.

NOTES
* There is also a marriage at the church of William Matthews and Mary Bamfield on 17 February 1837, this couple could have engraved their initials as they came to have the banns read out late in 1836.

Aston churchyard with Aston Hall in the distance. Taken 12 March 2010.