Free walls
Cheltenham Borough Council has designated several areas as free walls. Free walls are locations where artists can express themselves without prior consent, without the threat of conviction, as long as these guidelines are followed.
- The artwork must be respectful
- The artist must consider the context of the local environment and not cause offence.
- Offensive graffiti may contain some or all of the following: offensive language, language of a politically, racially, religiously insulting or inciting nature; hate statements; graphically explicitly images; graphically intimidating images or text; images that are textually or visually offensive in context; libellous or potentially libellous statements
- Must not include corporate advertising
- The artwork can sometimes incorporate stencils and/or collages that can deteriorate quickly. It’s not the preferred medium, but if it’s used it should be monitored and removed once it deteriorates
- Be respectful of other artists work and leave new work for a while
- Leave no trace, other than your artwork, by taking your litter home to recycle
- The artist must be respectful of other users of the space and be aware of their own safety and that of the public
Free wall locations around Cheltenham
- Honeybourne Line St Georges Road underpasses – vertical internal walls of the underpass only
- Honeybourne Line Market Street bridge – internal vertical metal panels
- Honeybourne Line High Street bridge – internal vertical metal panels
- Honeybourne Line Swindon Road bridge – internal vertical metal panels
- Honeybourne Line St Pauls Road bridge – internal vertical metal panels
- Pittville Park skate park – external vertical metal skate ramp panels. Not the skating surface
- Springfields Park skate park - external vertical metal skate ramp panels. Not the skating surface
- Montpellier Gardens - external vertical metal skate ramp panels. Not the skating surface
- Benhall open space – internal vertical walls of the bridge underpass
- Brizen playing field - external vertical metal skate ramp panels. Not the skating surface
- Beeches playing field - external vertical metal skate ramp panels. Not the skating surface
No other locations are permitted unless additional consent is granted by the council or land owner.
Our green space team provides permission to individuals, groups and events to undertake work on other structures in parks and open spaces owned by the council. Contact the team for further information at [email protected]
If you want to get involved or support the Cheltenham Paint Festival, visit the paint festival website for further information.
Examples of artworks
Examples of street art which is permitted.
Examples of graffti art which is permitted. Thank you to the Cheltenham Paint Festival for their work around the town.
The below are examples which are not urban art, this is graffiti tagging and is a criminal offence.
