Mystery Of The Tiny Villages In Chiswick
Who is behind the miniature settlements that have suddenly appeared?
The tiny village by Sutton Court Road. Picture: Paul Flood
The sudden appearance of tiny villages across Chiswick is proving to be something of a mystery.
Some of miniature ceramic settlements set in concrete are at busy road junctions. There is one next to the A4 by the junction with Sutton Court Road and another on Chiswick High Road across from the Catholic Church. The one at Sutton Court Road is the most extensive with a number of houses around what appears to be a lovingly created reconstruction of Chiswick House and Gardens.
Another six building hamlet has been built nearby outside the library on Dukes Avenue.
Local residents, including comedian Dara O Briain have been posting about them on Twitter. He had to get on his hands and knees in the middle of the busy road to take a picture of them causing people to stare.
Dara tweeted it was, " THE MADDEST LITTLE THING EVER. I only noticed this by chance today, I have no idea how long it has been there but; In the middle of Chiswick High Road there is a traffic island.... and somebody has built a tiny village on it."
His post attracted a string of responses on Twitter with one wondering "Could it be Banksy when he was younger "?
Small - Far away. Picture Dara O Briain
Exceptionally well located properties on Chiswick High Road. Picture Dara O Briain
Another joked that it was "affordable housing" with one wag suggesting that Foxtons had them on the market at £250,000 each while others wondered if they had planning permission. It was also pointed out that when politicians made all these commitments to build hundreds of thousands of houses they never specified what size they were going to be.
One person who contacted us about them observed, "A lot of care and attention has gone into this and it would have taken time and effort to create them. They must have been done over night. I hope they are allowed to remain because they are set to become a talking point. As for who is responsible, it would have to be a ceramicist who lives locally with anarchist tendencies but that still leaves us with a huge pool of suspects as its Chiswick we are talking about here. "
Very handy for the local library. Picture: Andrew Turner
Is it a subversive comment on the current push for high-rise buildings across west London?
We have asked some of our more popular local artists if they are responsible and will report back.
If you have any idea who is behind the tiny villages, do let us know and email editor@chiswickw4.com.
November 23, 2019