''The Tree of Knowledge'' is a relief mural by the artist

Alan Boyson Alan Boyson, RCA (1930 – 19 August 2018) was an English muralist and sculptor, who worked chiefly in glass, ceramic and concrete. Boyson studied at Manchester Regional School of Art from 1950 to 1954, and at the Royal College of Art from 1954 ...

. It was created in 1962 for Cromwell Secondary School for Girls in Salford, England, and erected on an end wall on the exterior of the school building. It is made from concrete, with ceramic tiles and pebbles collected from the site for which it was designed It measures approximately square. It depicts five stylised birds, one an owl, sitting in a tree. In August 2009, when the former school building was due to be demolished, the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society, ''The Salford Star'' (a local magazine), and local residents campaigned successfully to have the mural given statutory protection by being " listed" by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The notice granting it Grade II listed status said: The rest of the building was subsequently demolished, leaving only the wall on which the mural sits, plus enough of the side walls to support it. Boyson also made a ceramic tiled wall, since lost, for the school's entrance hall. The combined commission was worth £400. In May 2021, planning permission was submitted for the construction of 21 houses and 24 apartments on the site with the plan to retain the mural.

References

{{Reflist Murals in the United Kingdom Mosaics 1962 in art Salford Birds in art Grade II listed buildings in the City of Salford Ceramic art