This mural depicts the history of Thames, modeled in terracotta tiles mounted on board.

In 1992, the Thames-Coromandel District Council built a new public library and I was invited to create a mural to be installed on an inner wall, an opportunity I jumped at. Aware of the rich and varied social and industrial history of Thames, I needed to do a lot of research to animate the mural with images, in modelled relief, which would tell the story of the town's history. As I researched, I began to realize that there was much more to Thames than just gold mining, its historical claim to fame. Researching some history, I came across Racing for Gold plus various other local publications and notes, such as those of the late historian Alisdair Isdale and publications from the major heavy engineering firm, A & G Price Ltd.

The mural would be a pictorial history in modelled terracotta tiles, mounted on board. Researching the town's history was a fairly daunting task: so much imagery to try and include in a rather limited space. The mural needed to be accessible to those who used the library. Thames, being a coastal town, is sandwiched between steep hills to the east and a somewhat mudder upper reach of the Hauraki Gulf to the west. This helped me set the form of the mural. Contrasting with the terracotta, I chose a varied grey-green for the colour of the background board--the sea is not exactly ocean blue in this locality.

For those wanting some interpretation, I wrote an information sheet, with reference numbers relating to the mural details, which is available at the library counter. I was grateful to the Council for this work opportunity and it should also be commended for inviting a local artist, John Hovell, to create a fine mural for the Council Chambers some years later. How barren life would be if our culture was dominated by commerce and sports alone!

Source: Barry Brickell, 'Plastic Memories: 38 years of story-telling in clay' (Driving Creek Press, 2013), pp32-33

Note: an information panel installed with the work features this text, along with the following index.

Index to the approximate sites and names of some more important gold mines and batteries (see number stamped into the tiles):

1. Deep Sinker

1. Bright Smile

1. Queen of Beauty - later Thames-Hauraki Pump

1. May Queen

1. Red Queen

1. Mary Ann

1. Saxon

1. Prince Imperial (see also 19 for battery)

1. Souter’s Battery

1. Waiotahi

1. Golden Grown

1. Calendonian

1. Tookey’s

1. Cambria

1. Morning Star Battery

1. Victoria

1. Moanatairi

1. Big Pump (formerly Imperial Crown)

1. Prince Imperial Battery

1. Manukau Battery

1. Victoria (Boreholes)

1. Shotover (earliest Claim)

1. Kuranui Battery

1. Albion

1. Fraser and Time Battery

1. Original Shotover Battery

1. Alburnia

1. Morning Star

1. Golden Era

The mural was blessed by the Reverend Canon Dawn Wihongi and the Reverend Roy Wihongi in 2016.

See also:

• Blessing for beautiful murals, SunLive, 16 Sep 2016