#51. Gerry’s Pompeii ~ The Most Significant Work Of Outsider Art In Britain

In conversation with Alison, Nick and Sasha, patrons of Gerry's Pompeii. The most significant work of outsider art in Britain.

Created on a stretch of Canalside and hidden behind topiary hedges Gerry's Pompeii is a strange and surreal sculpture garden created almost entirely in secret by the late Gerry Dalton.

He would spend almost everyday in this garden using crystal doorknobs - salvaged ceramics and curious found objects, including an old iPad that are embedded in the long ornate garden wall guarded by 47 statuettes each representing specific individuals.

Like the first duke of Devonshire.

It was only really after he passed away that the extent of the sculpture garden became known to the neighbourhood and the public.

This garden is so compelling - so powerful and such a testament to one mans vision and what can be achieved by anyone if they just stand up and say l am going to create something. The statues are bejewelled with gems and black cement wigs.

Among the statues is a figure of Gerry himself - although noticeably he's not credited as an artist or sculptor but simply as a gardener.