House Secretly Transformed by Artist Tenant Gets Listed Status

By Calla Mitchell

Interior of The Wirral. Image: Historic England.

Hidden within a perfectly ordinary Victorian semi-detached house in Birkenhead (near Liverpool) The Wirral, the artistic wonderland of one extraordinary man, has been unearthed. In 2019, after the eccentric Ron Gittins passed away aged 79, his hidden fantasy world was discovered by family members and is now a publicly listed testament to the exuberant and unique creativity of an untrained and hidden talent.

Gittins’ immersive fantasy world inhabits the walls, rooms, and fireplaces of his rented apartment. From 1986, when he moved in, Gittins released the cap on his creativity and let it splash onto the rented walls. During those three decades of unlimited and excess productivity, he unsurprisingly refused his landlord or anyone from entering his property. As his niece, Jan Williams, jokingly retorted, "he only kept it secret because you're not really supposed to turn your rented flat into a Roman villa complete with epic concrete fireplaces are you?”. In fact, she believed he would be “over the moon” with her decision to campaign for its now Grade II listing by the National Heritage. In a letter addressed to Williams, he had even written “I can’t wait to show you what I’ve done” – a sweet sentence which sadly never reached his niece due to an incorrectly written address.

Among those campaigners included rock star Jarvis Cocker, who happily exclaimed, “the work of one unique gentleman in the north of England has been recognised nationally. Globally even.”, polished off with a very contented “Hallelujah!”. And recognised now it certainly has been. Controversial to the nature of listings, which is commonly reserved for buildings of historic or architectural significance, this significance was instead contracted by an artist who allowed his creativity to take over the apartment from floor to ceiling. There really “isn’t anything like it in the UK”.

Upon entering the space, the participant is teleported to a multicultural experience of themed murals and mythical beasts pinched from Ancient Greece and Egypt. No space was left untouched by Gittens’ creative mastery. The fireplaces he fashioned into heads of roaring lions and a minotaur, a Roman alter inhabits the kitchen, and the bathrooms explore marine themed murals. “He was a kind of performance artist and the flat he created was like his stage set and own private world” said family member, Chris Teasdale. And indeed, it is a stage showing the acts of unbelievable creativity and beauty. The listers praised that “the house is undoubtedly an experience unlike any you could have in an art gallery”.

Gittens’ flat is a first exemplar of large-scale ‘Outsider Art’; an umbrella term used for art created from no formal training. As an “outsider artist”, he “created without an audience in mind”, lending to the naïve quality of his work.

On a parting note, Williams shared that Gittens’ artistic wonderland “encouraged [her] to see being creative and unconventional as completely normal and [is] grateful for that.” Whilst he never held down a job, he had instead a “wealth of imagination and creativity”. This I found beautiful, and I hope the plans for a “micro-museum” materialise so that his creative stage, the main act being a chant of “be creative and be resourceful”, can continue to inspire these same emotions as indeed it has done for me.