| Reference Number | 2012.103/G/1/6 |
| Level | File |
| Extent | 66 items |
| Title | Annan's correspondence related to the Fleet Building |
| Date | 1955-1961 |
| Description | Substantial volume of correspondence related to the Fleet Building originally held in a manila folder marked 'Ministry of Works'. The file includes a letter from W.S. Frost of the Ministry of Works communicating a suggestion from the Post Office that each of the nine panels should represent 'someone in the various occupations in the Telecommunications Service' (/2); correspondence related to the supply of tiles by Hathernware Ltd, including complications throughout the project and the commensurate rise in costs (/5-7; /12-22; /26; /30-39; /44-45; /52-54; /56-58; /64) letters related to the design of the panels (/8-10); the agreement between Annan and the Ministry of Works (/27-29); insurance of the tiles (/40-43; /46-47); letters notifying Annan of forthcoming visits by press photographers (/50-51); letters related to an insurance claim for damaged tiles (/59-60; /63) a receipt for £2,191 paid to Annan (/65); and a typed sheet of information related to the finished panels, possibly created for the press (/66). |
| Notes | Annan was commissioned by the Ministry of Works to design a ceramic mural comprising of nine panels for the Farringdon Street elevation of the Fleet Building in London. The Building, designed by the Eric Bedford, was built to house the Central Telegraph Office and was the largest to be built for the Post office since the war. Annan was offered £300 per panel, plus the cost of materials and firing. Annan used photographs of telecommunications equipment supplied by the Post Office as inspiration for the panels. Although the tiles were manufactured by Hathernware Ltd, she hand-scored each wet clay tile to her design at their Loughborough pottery and then decorated, glazed and re-fired them in her studio kiln. On the closure of the Telegraph Office, The Fleet Building was bought by an American Bank and was at risk of demolition. However in 2011 English Heritage gave the panels Grade II listed status and in 2013 they were relocated to an elevated walkway on the Barbican Estate. |
| Related Material | See 2012.103/A/9 for a notebook containing experimental test recipes for different coloured glazes for the tiles of the Fleet Building mural; 2012.103/C/1/13 for black and white photographs of the mural; and 2012.103/D/3 for a copy of the architects plan showing the Farringdon Street elevation of the Fleet Building and the proposed position of the tiled panels. |