The Railway Tree - Broadway, Stratford, London, UK
N 51° 32.369 W 000° 00.023
30U E 708010 N 5714085
This piece of sculpture, 'The Railway Tree', is located near the Stratford a town that used to be heavily involved in the construction of railway locomotives. Around the base is a compass rose. This compass rose is close to the Airy Meridian.
Waymark Code: WMGBJ7
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/10/2013
Views: 3
The Newham Council website [visit
link] tells us:
"The steel girders of "Railway
Tree" are shaped like railway lines and are intended to remind us of Stratford's
past connection with industry and the railways.
The sculpture seeks to symbolise
Stratford as a focal point of arrival and departure. Stratford’s first train
station opened in 1839 along with workshops of the Eastern Counties Railway
which later became the Great Eastern Railway.
Sculpted by Malcolm Robertson, the
10 metre high artwork is made up of 18 tons of rolled ‘H’ section steel. Another
piece of public art created by the same sculpture, ‘Time Spiral’ used to stand
in Meridian Square in Stratford. It will be relocated to the northern end of
Maryland island, outside Maryland Station in April 2011.
The clock was removed in 2008 from
Meridian Square in Stratford Regional Station. The work of art first unveiled in
1996 and has symbols for the signs of the Zodiac arranged around the base,
emphasising the themes of travel, time and transport."
The Exploring East London website [visit
link] adds:
"This stands at the junction of the
Broadway and Great Eastern Road, Stratford, E15. This structure is aligned by
the compass points. The steel girders are shaped like railway lines and are
intended to remind us of the area's past connection with industry and the
railways. Stratford station opened in 1839 together with engineering workshops
of the Eastern Counties Railway. This later became the Great Eastern Railway,
and their workshops built 1,682 steam locomotives between 1850 and the 1920s. At
one time the railway yards and the repair depot employed 3000 workers. With the
construction of the new international railway connection, this sculpture has
become even more relevant."
The Public Monuments and Sculptures
Association website [visit
link] further adds:
"Seven upright groups of steel
girders, fashioned to look like railway tracks, fixed in groups of three to a
'stem' stretching skywards and branching out, overhanging the circular base. The
sculpture is set within a circle of coloured, decorative pavement slabs
incorporating the points of the compass and circular decorative motifs - a star,
umbrellas, birds, leaves, etc. Lights are set in the pavement around it,
illuminating it at night. Commissioned by Newham as part of the Stratford City
Challenge redevelopment programme in 1995, the piece was put in place during
June 1996, having been fabricated in Birmingham the same year. Malcolm
Robertson's proposal was to use stainless steel 'skeletal forms in a . . .
spatial way to create a tree-like structure in an area bereft of natural
landscaping'. The construction is of stainless steel box section girders. In the
original plan, the tree's branches were to be decorated with suspended steel
motifs, symbols and wind chimes, which were to have been designed by members of
the local community. Although this part of the project was never implemented,
the sculpture itself stands as an effective reminder of the area's strong links
with industry and the Victorian railway system, as well as Stratford's current
location as a focal point of East London's transport network. The sculptor says
'that it was intended to "act as a gateway to Stratford and to symbolise its
former connection with industry and railways in particular"'. Marks Stratford's
location as a focal point for transport links and its historical connection to
industry and railways in particular."
The inscription on a plaque at the base
of the sculpture (see photos) reads:
Railway
Tree
by
Malcolm Robertson
1996
Commissioned by Stratford City
Challenge
in consultation with the following community groups:
Sarah
Bonnell School, Rokeby School, Carpenters Primary
Carpenters and Docklands
Art Classes, Stepping Stones Club,
Upton Centre, Hibiscus Centre, Greenhill
Centre