Graffiti wall in Witney 'gives poor first impression' says resident

A householder said she agreed that at first graffiti under the A40 bridge near Ducklington roundabout had shown some artistic quality.

But now, she said, "it has simply become an area to tag".

"Initially there were a few artistic creations such as an octopus.

"Unfortunately as a major, busy gateway to Witney it now does not give a good impression. 

Last summer, Oxfordshire County Council opened up two bridges at Ducklington Interchange and Emma's Dyke as ‘free art space’ to reduce the cost of cleaning off graffiti elsewhere.

But the resident said: "Although the council may have had good intentions, I feel it has backfired."

A spokesperson for the council said: "Both bridges were regularly tagged and graffiti applied constantly. Now the art space is open to anyone, within the guidelines (any art is not to be offensive or political).

"We’ve had great success with this approach in Oxford and have had positive responses. The team in Witney is connected to the team in Oxford."

They added: "The council’s bridges team will be keeping an eye on how it affects Witney overall. 

"At the outset there were some complaints, but these stopped when the situation was explained."

Stu Mason, of MES Graffiti Crew & The Open Walls Network, said the long-term goal for the A40 underpass is to create "a floor-to-ceiling celebration of Witney - the history, the culture and diversity that it encompasses".

"However, being entirely self-funded means that it can't happen overnight - the cost of paint alone for such a vast stretch of wall is astronomical, especially for artists facing the pressures of a cost-of-living crisis," he said.

"So in the background we're looking at funding options, applying for grants, and looking at how such an endeavour can support local community and youth groups."

He said photos of street art by the Open Walls Network had been shared on social media while "old and young" had stopped by to express their enthusiasm.

He said: “Witney, to our eyes, has really embraced these sites being opened up for use by artists.

"We also held a very successful series of workshops over the summer that saw local youth learning about the history and culture of graffiti and street art before working with our artists to create their own pieces down in the tunnel." 

"If artists can take the time to craft their work, rather than be criminalised for doing so, the quality of work in these spaces increases exponentially... rather than seeing swear words daubed on random walls and rushed graffiti that can be seen as a nuisance," he said.

And he added "there is a lot of time, effort and planning that's gone into this and so it's unfortunate that it's not appreciated universally - but isn't that the nature of art?

"If it were all the same and nobody had differing opinions, wouldn't that be incredibly dull and uninspiring?"

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This story was written by Miranda Norris, she joined the team in 2021 and covers news across Oxfordshire as well as news from Witney.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Miranda.Norris@newsquest.co.uk. Or find her on Twitter: @Mirandajnorris

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