Decoding the Hagard Art Project: Willenhall’s history in pictures If you stand outside the Hagard, you will see that the art boards are in three sections. The top board, which stands alone, has the theme of travel and the movement of people: ‘Not just passing through, but going to Willenhall.’ You will see medieval pilgrims trudging to the Chapel of St James for a rest, before they continue on the last leg of their journey to the distant walled city of Coventry, with its holy relics. Agricultural labourers are heading towards the Manor Farm, which stood at the centre of the village for several centuries. The Toll Bar is seen in action, with travellers paying their dues before being allowed to pass through the gate. The Chace Hotel, a symbol of Willenhall’s tradition of hospitality, is featured, and if you look closely, you will notice a hunting scene which recalls the original meaning of the word ‘Chace’. The next two boards are sited side by side. On the left-hand side, the theme is ‘Working together defending our shores’. Churchill dominates the scene, giving his famous victory salute, as Whitley bombers, made in Baginton, fly out on their mission: ‘Our secret factories were an important step on the road to victory.’ The overall theme is the influx of workers, who came to Coventry from all over Britain, and stayed in the Ministry of Works hostels at the Chace and Baginton Fields: ‘Footsteps came to Willenhall and it was all hands to the war effort.’ The right-hand board commemorates all those displaced people who came to Baginton Fields Hostel after the war to receive a warm welcome, symbolised by a smiling lady with a tea tray. The buildings in flames, which then give way to a trail of tulips and clogs, represent the arrival of the Dutch children who stayed at Baginton Fields for rehabilitation after their ordeal in Nazi occupied Holland from February to May 1945. Another route, painted in vibrant colours with designs copied from Far Eastern textiles, leads from Asia to Baginton Fields: ‘Some came with little more than their lives’. Here, the imagery is referring to the many people with British connections, interned by the Japanese in South-East Asia during World War II; they were brought to England on converted troop ships and resettled at Baginton Fields. The third board, which is the longest, runs continuously through ‘The journey of Willenhall’s proud history, from making hay together to making way for progress’. We see Robert Stephenson, chief engineer of the London to Birmingham Railway, surveying the workers as they lay the track, whilst a train of the 1830s chugs along in the distance. Farm workers are making hay in an idyllic landscape, but there are signs of change everywhere, with trees uprooted to make way for the railway. A central map shows the area with its triangular boundaries; the borders of the map contain early references to Willenhall in ancient documents: ‘1195- Wilihale or Welighale- Willow corner’ and ‘1260- Wynhale or Wylenhale meaning wells and springs’. There is an image of the Binley Pit, and the Flying Scotsman which passed through Willenhall on the 6th June 1966 is seen steaming along, whilst overhead a Whitley bomber flies past. This is just a brief description of the art work: it is very detailed, and if you look closely there are many quirky images which will catch your eye
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 10:04:08 +0000
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