First Tideway public artwork unveiled at Hammersmith Pumping Station

The first permanent public artwork on the super sewer project to be officially unveiled is now proudly on display at Hammersmith Pumping Station.

Under the theme of ‘Recreation to Industry: Society in Transition,’ artist Sarah Staton has created a bespoke bronze plaque which occupies part of the former Brandenburg House, where Queen Caroline, the wife of George IV, died in 1821.

Local stakeholders and members of the Tideway team were in attendance at an intimate ceremony to witness Andy Slaughter, MP for Hammersmith, unveil the plague alongside the artist.

The event was also an opportunity to celebrate the Hammersmith Pumping Station team working toward completion of substantive works at the site. Activities will now continue within the Thames Water pumping station to install and test the electrical and mechanical elements needed to operate the sewer.

Richard Lewis, who hosted the event, said: "Unveiling this artwork at Hammersmith – the first on the project – is a fantastic moment for us as we look ahead to a cleaner, healthier River Thames. Getting here has taken a huge amount of hard work and close collaboration, and I'd like to thank our site team, our local stakeholders and our artist Sarah Staton, whose work beautifully enshrines a quote from Queen Caroline of Brunswick, a figurehead and catalyst in the fight for universal suffrage."

Artist Sarah Staton said: "I became fascinated by the flamboyant Queen Caroline who lived at Hammersmith, and appears to have been rather more popular with the British public than with her husband, or his extensive and powerful entourage. I was taken with Caroline’s resilience, independence and the progressive circle she ran with. Caroline’s canny perception shines through time, and I am delighted to re-present her words in the enduring format of the bronze plaque."