Arts & Culture

Dan Peppiat is from Brentwood and he's an artist. As part of the Essex Summer of Art he's been commissioned to make a dragon for display on the balcony at Brentwood Town Hall.

The metal monster is made of recycled rubbish: "The frame underneath is made out of steel welded together to give it shape and I've built it up using hundreds of tin cans as scales," explains Dan.  

"The contractors who run the local municipal recycling site allowed me to go in and have my pick of anything in their metal bin. I found a lovely bit of cooper to make the breast plate.

"I did want fire, but I thought that would be a little dangerous," says Dan.

"So, we settled for LEDs and in keeping with the green theme they charge up through the day from solar panels."

Local artist Dan Peppiat

The Community Services Director at Brentwood Borough Council, Chris Wainman, says the dragon is trying to communicate a message to the public: "It's about recycling and the project across Essex called the Summer of Art, and we in Brentwood are very excited to be taking part."

Views from people walking past the town hall on the day of its unveiling were mixed, with some local residents confused about what it was trying to get across to them and others saying it looked 'pretty'.

Brentwood Borough Council haven't contributed any public money to the project, but Dan did receive some funding from the Arts Council.

Getting the dragon up on the balcony

Some locals might feel it's appropriate for a dragon to be on guard at their town hall, but the artist says it's not a social comment on Local Government.

"I think they [Brentwood Borough Council] have been fantastic," he says. "I don't know any other Local Government building that's got a recycled dragon monster on their balcony." 

School children will have the chance to see the beast at close quarters when it does a tour of local schools.