Admiring The Hitchcock Mosaics At Leytonstone Station

/ All posts, Hidden Gems, Memorials and Monuments, Street Oddity
alfred hitchcock mosaics

Alfred Hitchcock is one of Britain’s most famous film directors, often referred to as the ‘Master of Suspense’. Did you know though that he has his origins in Leytonstone in East London?

There are a few nods to the legendary director to look out for, including a series of brilliant mosaics inside Leytonstone Station. 

Alfred Hitchcock: Origins In Leytonstone

alfred hitchcock
Hitchcock in September 1955, image from wikimedia commons

Alfred Hitchcock was born on 13th August 1899 at 517 High Road Leytonstone to William Edgar Hitchcock and Emma Jane, above his parents greengrocers shop. Leyton and Leytonstone were still part of Essex at that time, becoming part of London in 1965.

alfred hitchcock blue plaque

alfred hitchcock blue plaque leytonstone
The petrol station on the site today because the house was sadly knocked down in the 1960s
the birds mural
Opposite you can see this mural from 2014, inspired by his film, The Birds. The concept was by Anna Mill but painted by Mateusz Odrobny

Alfred’s father was a strict disciplinarian. He apparently once sent little five year old Alfred to the local police station with a note saying that he had misbehaved. The Sergeant on duty locked Alfred in a cell for a few minutes on the instructions of his father. This then gave him a lifelong fear of enclosed spaces and strong interest in wrongful imprisonment and the justice system. 

Alfred then went to St. Ignatius College before attending the London County Council School of Marine Engineering and Navigation from 1913–14.

Becoming The Legendary Director

In 1916 he started drawing and design classes at the University of London. This was what gained him his route into the film world, because he was employed to design title cards for silent films.

He then worked his way up through various positions before directing his first film, the comedy Mrs Peabody in 1922. 

In 1939, Hitchcock relocated to Hollywood, where he produced his best known films, such as Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), and Psycho (1960). He became known for innovative camera angles, dark humour, and a mastery of suspense.

Whilst being celebrated for his skills as a director, his legacy, as many will be aware, is scrutinised, with allegations of predatory, controlling behaviour and, at times, sadistic treatment of the female leads.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1980 and died later that year on the 29th April. 

alfred hitchcock and his family
Hitchcock with his family in 1955, top, from left-Patricia Hitchcock O’Connell (daughter) with Terry O’Connell (granddaughter), Joseph O’Connell (son-in-law). Seated, from left-Hitchcock, Mary Alma O’Connell (granddaughter), and wife Alma Reville Hitchcock (wife). Image from wikimedia commons.

Leytonstone Station: A Vital War Purpose

leytonstone station

Before we get into the mosaics, Leytonstone Station has an interesting history. It opened in 1856 as an Eastern Counties Railway stop. During World War Two, part of the tunnel system was used as a public air raid shelter. Remarkably, another 2.5 mile stretch of the tunnels between Leytonstone and Gants Hill was turned into a a secret underground aircraft factory. Following bomb damage to their Ilford factory, the Plessey defence electronics company moved production into the tube tunnels. Up to 4,000 workers, predominantly women, worked 24-hour shifts producing aircraft components, radio equipment, and parts for sites such as Bletchley Park. The facility even featured its own mini railway to shuttle materials.

In 1947, the station was incorporated into the London Underground when the Central line was extended. The station was also rebuilt at this time in a post-war Modernist style, by architect Thomas Bilbow.  There are a couple of old, surviving advertisement posters in the station to look out for.

bearmans poster leytonstone station
Bearmans of Leytonstone was a much-loved department store opened by Frank Bearman in 1898, run the family until 1962 and then closed in 1982 and demolished.
chapmans poster leytonstone station

The Hitchcock Mosaics 

In 1999, to mark the centenary of Hitchcock’s birth, the London Borough of Waltham Forest commissioned a series of mosaics. Some depict scenes from his most iconic films, including references to his famous cameos and others are nods to his own life. 

hitchcock mosaics history

Unveiled in May 2001, were designed and crafted by the Greenwich Mural Workshop. The installation took seven months to put together, using over 80,000 tiles.

There are seventeen in total, below are a selection of some that stood out to me.

alfred hitchcock outside his fathers shop
A young Alfred Hitchcock on a horse outside his father’s greengrocers shop, roughly 1906
alfred hitchcock in skin games
Alfred Hitchcock depicted directing in The Skin Game (1931). Here he directs some of his well-known stars such as Margaret Lockwood, Ingrid Bergman and Cyril Richard.
number 17
A scene from Number 17 (1932), two thieves played attempt a getaway on a stolen train
the birds mosaic
One of the most iconic scenes from a Hitchcock film, Melanie Daniels, played by Tippi Hedren, is attacked by a flock of crows in The Birds
suspicion mosaic
Johnnie Aysgarth, played by Cary Grant, brings his wife a drink in Suspicion (1941)
the skin game mosaic
A scene from The Skin Game (1931)
strangers on a train
Strangers On A Train (1951), a psychotic Bruno, played by Robert Walker, suggests exchanging murder victims with Guy, played by Farley Granger, a stranger on the same train.
rebecca mosaic
Rebecca (1940). Joan Fontaine as Mrs De Winter struggles to escape the memory of her husband’s first wife, Rebecca. Also in the background, you can see St John’s Church, Leytonstone, as it was in Hitchcock’s childhood.
the wrong man mosaic
The Wrong Man (1956). Henry Fonda plays musician Christopher Emmanuel Ballestrero who is mistakenly identified by the police as a robber. Hitchcock features, depicted in red, breaking the fourth wall and narrating the prologue.

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