Myton mural in '˜21 fascinating places' list

In 2015 Myton school decided to cover up the Four Seasons mural, which was painted by Alan Sorrell in 1953.

The mural is not open to the general public.

Back then the school said the decision to cover up the mural was to provide “relevant and up-to-date displays”.

The covering up the mural left many councillors, former teachers and residents upset about the decision and calls were made to have it uncovered.

There were also calls from Alan Sorrell’s children Julia and Richard Sorrell who both felt their father’s artwork should not be covered up.

In April 2016 even more calls were made to uncover the artwork after it was granted Grade II-listed status by Historic England but Myton School did not remove the covering.

Since the artwork was covered there have been displays of student’s work.

Fresh calls have now been made to unveil the much-loved artwork after it was featured on Historic England’s 21 Fascinating Places in 2016 list.

According to the list, which was released in December, “The Seasons was the last, largest and most impressive large-scale mural by Alan Sorrell, who undertook a number of public art commissions and is best-known for his reconstructions of English history.

“The mural was intended to be entertaining as well as instructive to the pupils of the school, who passed it each time they entered the building or passed through the crush hall”.

The mural was painted into the plaster of the school hallway after being commissioned at the then Oken School over 60 years ago.

Warwick Councillor Martyn Ashford said: “It has been covered behind a Perspex covering and there is no air getting to it.

“They are covering up a treasure. Think about how much the school could make from tourism.

“It should be uncovered for the school children to enjoy and for the parents that come in to enjoy as well as there are not many of these works of art in schools.”

A spokesperson from Myton School said: “As previously stated, we have lots of artwork on display, much of it created by our students, which we 
rotate frequently to ensure that our school is a vibrant and visually stimulating environment.

“Because our lower school reception acts as the main student entrance to the school, we took the decision to develop some new visuals and as part of this work, we carefully covered and protected the Sorrell mural and installed our new artwork over the top.

“The mural can be uncovered at any future date. It has never been on public display because of its location inside the school.”