Caledonian ward councillors Una O’Halloran, Sara Hyde and Paul Convery beside the Tolpuddle Martyrs mural, at the entrance to Edwards Square on Copenhagen Street

A DEGRADED mural commemorating a historic working class protest has been restored thanks to unexpected funding from the private owner of adjacent flats.

The Tolpuddle Martyrs mural, at the entrance to Edwards Square on Copenhagen Street, was commissioned in the 1980s to remember an 1834 demonstration against the transportation of six agricultural workers to Australia after they were found to be trying to form a trade union.

More than 100,000 protesters marched south from present-day Caledonian ward to Kennington Common via the Houses of Parliament, and their sustained pressure eventually forced the government to bring the men home.

This moment came to represent the beginning of the legal trade union movement in this country.

The mural – painted on the wall of the Mitre pub, which was converted into housing in 2010 – had fallen into disrepair, and has only now been given new life, thanks to the building owner’s decision to self-fund the restoration.

Caledonian ward councillor Paul Convery thanked this unlikely hero of the proletariat and called the funding “a very pleasant surprise”.

He added: “As ward councillors we treasure this heritage asset in our neighbourhood and were dismayed by its deterioration and damage over recent years. We are Labour councillors and trade unionists, so we are naturally proud of our labour movement history.”

Cllr Convery also recognised Islington trades union council and a group of Islington councillors for pushing for the mural to be repainted, as well as the Heritage of London Trust for a £15,000 grant towards the project – although this ended up not being needed, thanks to the neighbour’s generosity.

The mural was first painted by long-time King’s Cross resident and renowned muralist Dave Bangs, and now restored by Dominique Zanotto, who works under the name DODeco.

Cllr Convery also paid tribute to previous restoration efforts, including by Cally activist Lisa Pontecorvo, who sadly died in a road accident in 2008.

The mural was subsequently enhanced with a new panel that depicts Ms Pontecorvo herself, holding a scroll that tells the story of the mural.