Jeremy Deller John Neilson, 'Manod Slate Tablet', 2025

This tablet commemorates the National Gallery’s relationship to Manod quarry. The nation’s collections were sent into hiding in this disused slate mine in Eryri, North Wales in the Second World War. The threat of bombing during this time made London unsafe.

Artist Jeremy Deller conceived the tablet as part of The Triumph of Art. This was a nationwide programme of participatory events and performances to celebrate the Gallery’s 200th birthday in 2024. For this project, Deller partnered with the art gallery Mostyn in Llandudno and the Welsh-language theatre Frân Wen’s Young Company. Together, they devised Carreg Ateb: Vision or Dream? a multi-part production that travelled from North Wales to London.

It ended with a special performance in Trafalgar Square on 26 July 2025. Young performers presented the Manod Slate Tablet to the Gallery’s Director, Sir Gabriele Finaldi. It bears an inscription in Welsh and English that captures the special connection between the Gallery and Wales:

Daw’r llechen hon o chwarel Manod yng Ngogledd Cymru lle cafodd paentiadau’r Oriel Genedlaethol eu diogelu yn ystod yr Ail Ryfel Byd

This slate is from Manod quarry in North Wales where the National Gallery’s paintings were protected during World War II.

John Neilson, a letter carver based in North Wales, engraved the tablet. He used slate excavated from the same location in Manod quarry. The tablet’s design features unique lettering devised by Neilson. The commission was supported by CELF, the National Contemporary Art Gallery for Wales.

The Gallery had been preparing for war since at least 1938. On 23 August 1939, the first paintings left Trafalgar Square. The final pictures departed on 2 September, just hours before war was declared. Trains took the collection to various sites across Wales before they were reunited in Manod. After the Fall of France in 1940, bombing raids intensified.

The slate mines at Manod were chosen in the summer of 1940 to provide deeper protection. Explosives were used to enlarge the entrance to the mines to accommodate the largest paintings. Inside, several brick-lined rooms were built to protect the paintings from changes in temperature and humidity. The stable conditions during this time informed how we care for the collection today. By the summer of 1941, the Gallery’s paintings were stored together in the caverns. They remained there for a further four years.