“We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us” – said the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in October 1943, following the destruction of the House of Commons Chamber by incendiary bombs during the Blitz. “Music can change the world because it can change people.” – the words of U2 founding member and Irish rockstar Bono.
Whilst at first glance having little in common, both music and architecture have the capacity to change people. Both stir deep emotions, provoke strong opinions and foster meaningful connections. And some of the greatest music artists of all time understood and harnessed this.
The ‘fab four’ of the Beatles, legendary rockers Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath, and electronic music pioneers The Chemical Brothers and The Streets are just some of the musicians to feature depictions of England’s historic buildings and places on their album covers.
Here are 11 historic buildings or places from across England that feature on album covers.
Abbey Road zebra crossing, London (Grade II): The Beatles, ‘Abbey Road’ (1969)
Arguably the most iconic road crossing in the world, the black and white stripes outside the Abbey Road Studios in west London feature on The Beatles’ 11th studio album, released in 1969. The crossing was listed at Grade II in 2010 in large part due to the historical interest resulting from featuring on the album cover, and is the only zebra crossing in England to achieve listed status. Keep your eyes peeled, this might not be the only mention of Abbey Road in this blog…
Battersea Power Station, London (Grade II*): Pink Floyd, ‘Animals’ (1977)
Reopened in 2022 after a renovation costing over a £1 billion, following the closure of the site in 1983, Battersea featured on the album cover of Pink Floyd’s 10th studio album, Animals. Grade II listed in 1980 and upgraded to Grade II* in 2007, Battersea Power Station is one of the world’s largest brick buildings and was designed by notable architect Giles Gilbert Scott, best known for designing the iconic red telephone box.
Stocks House, Hertfordshire (Grade II): Oasis, ‘Be Here Now’ (1997)
The third album from Mancunian rock and roll stars Oasis, ‘Be Here Now’ was the fastest selling album of all time upon release in 1997. Shot at the Georgian Grade II listed Stocks House in Hertfordshire, the album cover shows a white Rolls Royce Silver Shadow in a swimming pool – a tribute to The Who’s Keith Moon who reportedly drove his own car into a swimming pool. Look closer, however, and you’ll spot that the registration plate of the Rolls (SYO 724F) is the same as that of the police van in the background of the Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover.
Stocks House also features in the music video for Madness’ 1982 song ‘Our House’ – keep reading if you’re a Madness fan, there’s more to come…
Church of our Lady of Fatima, Essex (Grade II*): Chemical Brothers, ‘Brothers Gonna Work It Out’ (1998)
Completed in 1960, Grade II listed in 2000 and upgraded to Grade II* in 2023, the Church of Our Lady Fatima is a striking piece of modernist architecture and possibly the first use of brightly coloured dalle de verre glass in England. Located in Harlow, one of 20 ‘new towns’ created under the 1946 New Towns Act, the building was added to the Heritage at Risk Register in 2024.
North east elevation showing its dalle de verre glass panels and copper-clad spire.
© Historic England Archive. View image DP440027
Moore Street Substation, Sheffield (Grade II): Richard Hawley, ‘In This City They Call You Love’ (2024)
Sheffield is well known for its Brutalist buildings, particularly the Grade II* listed ‘streets in the sky’ of Park Hill flats. Moore Street Substation is a lesser known but equally imposing building chosen by local cult hero Richard Hawley to feature on the cover of his 2024 album, ‘In This City They Call You Love’. Built in 1968, this reinforced concrete electricity substation is significant for its unusually prominent position in a post-war redevelopment area that aimed to revitalise Sheffield’s infrastructure and urban environment.
Tower Bridge, London (Grade I): Wings, ‘London Town’ (1978)
Completed in 1894, the iconic neo-gothic Tower Bridge featured on Wings’ 1978 album ‘London Town’, which was recorded at, you guessed it, Abbey Road Studios. The album cover photo of the group in front of the bridge is in fact a composite of three different portraits, which is fitting as Tower Bridge was built as a combination of a bascule, suspension and cantilever bridge. The southern half of the bridge, in the London Borough of Southwark, was Grade I listed in 1949, with the northern half, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, only becoming listed in 1973.
Kestrel House, London: The Streets, ‘Original Pirate Material’ (2002)
Kestrel House, an unassuming Modernist London tower block built in 1968 was the subject of a 1995 photograph ‘Towering Inferno’ by Rut Blees Luxemburg, which was to become the cover art for The Streets’ 2002 debut album, ‘Original Pirate Material’. The 18-storey residential tower stands as a metaphor for the social realism of an album produced in Mike Skinner’s bedroom.
Granada Cinema, London (Grade I): The Cribs, ‘Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever’ (2007)
Adorning the cover of 00’s indie royalty The Cribs’ legendary 2007 album ‘Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever’; this former cinema, built in 1930 to 1931 for Bernstein Theatres as the Granada is described as ‘without doubt the most lavishly decorated interior of any cinema in Britain and among the most lavish in Europe’. The building closed as a cinema in 1973, re-opening as a bingo club 3 years later. In his 1966 guide to London’s buildings, architectural critic Ian Nairn said of the Tooting Granada: “miss the Tower of London if you have to, but don’t miss this.”
Chalk Farm Tube Station, London (Grade II): Madness, ‘Absolutely’ (1980)
Designed by famous London Underground architect Leslie Green with his signature oxblood terracotta exterior, Chalk Farm tube station features on the cover of 1980’s ska superstars Madness’ second album, ‘Absolutely’. One of 50 stations Green was commissioned to design, Chalk Farm opened in 1907 as part of the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway. It was Grade II listed in 2011 as ‘externally the most impressive and distinctive of the surviving [Leslie] Green stations’.
Mapledurham Watermill, Oxfordshire (Grade II*): Black Sabbath, ‘Black Sabbath’ (1970)
Situated on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, this timber framed 15th century watermill has 2 claims to fame. As well as starring on the cover of Heavy Metal pioneers Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut album, Mapledurham also features in the classic 1976 Second World War film ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ featuring Michael Caine.
IOE01/10226/24
Jephson Memorial, Leamington Spa (Grade II): Ocean Colour Scene, ‘Moseley Shoals’ (1996)
Birmingham Britpoppers ‘Ocean Colour Scene’ released their second album in 1996 and did not travel too far from home to find the location for the album artwork. Completed in 1849 and dedicated to local physician and philanthropist Dr Henry Jephson, this Grade II listed neoclassical memorial is located in the Grade II registered Spa Gardens in Leamington Spa.
So which of these albums is your favourite? And have we missed any? Let us know in the comments.
0 comments on “11 Historic Buildings and Places That Feature on Album Covers”