Mystery Solved: Identity of Artists Behind Murals in Leavesden Hospital Underpass Uncovered

Angela Weston, an art student who helped create murals in the now-closed Leavesden Hospital underpass, has recently come forward with her experiences.

Last month, photos of the underpass, taken shortly after the hospital closed in 1995, emerged, but the identity of the artists behind the murals was unknown. However, Angela’s social media post has shed some light on this mystery.

According to Angela, the murals were painted in 1986, and she was one of the art students involved in the project. She mentioned that she only contributed a couple of days, as one of the original painters couldn’t make it during those days. The group was doing a foundation course in art at Ridge Street College in Watford, before pursuing their fine art degrees. The students volunteered to paint the murals during the Easter holidays or as their course ended. Angela fondly recalls visiting the underpass again before Leavesden Hospital closed, stating, “I do believe I went to the subway to see my handiwork as an 18-year-old!”

Unfortunately, since both ends of the subway were filled in when the hospital closed in 1995, and there was very little if any chance I would get permission from the council to dig any further, I accepted the fact that these hand-painted murals, and the stories they may have told, would be yet another historic feature of the hospital lost to time.

That was until December 2022 when I received a donation of photographs and documents from a former staff member of the hospital. To my awe and astonishment, within the over 350 photographs and one old video tape, I found several images of the very paintings I had been hoping to get a glimpse of since 2008.

I guess good things do come to those who wait.