John Maxwell mural on the wall of Art Space, Craigmillar

Art Space, Craigmillar

John Maxwell Mural

1930s

This mural, of children at play in the streets measures 30ft x 15ft. It was painted on the dining room wall of Craigmillar Primary School in 1935* by John Maxwell.

During the 1930s new housing and schools were being built in Craigmillar to re-house families moving from overcrowded housing that was being demolished elsewhere in Edinburgh.

Today

The school closed in 1999 and the surrounding houses have since been demolished. Craigmillar Primary School also came close to being demolished, but following a campaign by local people, the school was B-listed in 2000 and has been saved.

The school has now been converted into business units (many used by charities), a theatre and a gallery. The mural was restored in 2006 and the room where it can be found has been named 'The John Maxwell Gallery'.

I took this photo of the mural during the Craigmillar Festival, 2009 when the gallery was being used to house an exhibition of historic photographs of Craigmillar, titled 'Craigmillar Then'.

* I have read conflicting reports of when this mural was painted, dates ranging from 1928 (four years before the school was built!0 to 1935 I have taken the date above from this Heritage & Culture page on The Scotsman web site.