Marden’s Mysterious Murals: a remarkable hidden history uncovered beneath layers of wallpaper.

By Diane Wailes and Sue Wilkinson

Imagine finding that your house has a hidden history – and discovering it whilst doing the decorating.

This is what the buyers of a seemingly ordinary house in Marden discovered when they uncovered a treasure trove of paintings, hidden under layers of wallpaper – and not in just one room, but throughout their new home.

These weren’t small scribblings or simple artistic doodles, but large-scale landscapes, maritime scenes and majestic beasts.

As first-time buyers, new owner Ella and her partner were keen to create their dream home with a major renovation of their 1950s house. The work began a few months ago. As they began to strip off the old anaglypta wallpaper, they were in for a big surprise.

Ella and her partner found the first mural at the top of the stairs.

“Initially we thought it was a horse as we could see its legs, but as we uncovered more we realised that it was a stag with antlers”.

As they moved down the stairs, a second mural of a galleon appeared, which covered a large area of the stairwell.

As the wallpaper came off in each room, new eye-catching oil paintings were revealed, after years of being hidden. Each room provided a fresh surprise.

“It was quite exciting. We were encouraged to work more quickly, stripping the walls at speed because we didn’t know what we’d find next,” recalls Ella.

The largest mural on the lounge wall features three galleons at sea in what appears to be a famous historic scene. Around the corner, the entrance hall boasts a massive Dutch windmill and farming scene. Upstairs, the artist’s work continues – the master bedroom is particularly impressive, with geometric patterns on the ceiling that were clearly painted by a skilled hand. What appears to be a sketched cartoon of a man also decorates a small area of wall.

At some point after they were painted in the 1950s, the murals were papered over – and it’s this attempt to cover them up that preserved them.

The only mural which was too damaged to be saved was in the refurbished bathroom – a rural scene of a pond, birds and reeds. Sadly, it was destroyed when the tiles were removed from the walls.

The big question is who painted them and why?

Shipyard Muralist

The artist was Robert King, a shipyard worker and painter who worked at Swan Hunter in Wallsend.

Like many of his workmates, Robert had a talent for painting. Although he wasn’t involved in any of the shipbuilders’ art groups and never painted on canvas, he was a very creative man, and enjoyed building and painting model ships in his spare time.

He and his wife Elsie moved into the house in 1951, not long after it was built. It was then that Robert decided to put his creative talents to good use by painting murals throughout their new home. He took his inspiration from scenes on biscuit tins, greetings cards and calendars. His choice of oil paint guaranteed that his work would last for many years.

Robert’s daughter, Pam, shared her memories of the murals with I Love North Shields. She remembers the original colours being much brighter, especially the harlequin ceiling in her parents’ bedroom. Her personal favourite is the imposing stag which dominates the stairwell.

Pam showed us an article from the Shields Daily News, dated Friday, July 29, 1955, with the headline: “Enterprise and Artistic Touch Transform Council House into Dream”.

“No wonder this Tynemouth woman is proud of her husband”, says the feature. It mentions that Robert had to obtain special permission from the council for the decorations, and they had to be in keeping with the design of the house. The result was a unique home with art bursting from its walls. Even the council declared the works to be “most enterprising”. The article describes how “Mrs King says it makes her feel it is really her home and that she is not just one of the thousands living in the traditional sameness of council houses”.

After Robert died in 1977, his wife continued to live in the house until the 1980s. Pam mentioned that her parents previously lived elsewhere in North Shields, and there’s the intriguing possibility that Robert also painted on the walls of that house!

Emotional Journey

New owner, Ella, invited Pam back to her childhood home to see her father’s paintings again. It was an emotional moment and Pam says she’s thrilled that they have survived for so long and that this lovely young couple have been able to uncover the artworks.

Will the new owner keep the murals or paint over them? “I think that we might keep one, perhaps the hallway mural, and cover over the rest with lining paper, to preserve them”, says Ella.

The painting in the hallway is a great talking point as it runs halfway along the wall and dominates the entrance to the house. The new owners have to be realistic. “It’s important to preserve them but we still have to complete the decorating job!”

Creating their dream home has turned into quite a project…

And who knows how many more murals are lurking in people’s homes. If you’ve discovered art hidden on your walls, we’d love to hear from you.