Seagull mural by Banksy, corner of Katwijk Way and Denmark Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk, England
Seagull
Banksy · a seagull painted on a gable wall above a real skip of insulation-board “chips”, August 2021, part of “A Great British Spraycation” · corner of Katwijk Way and Denmark Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk · cut from the wall in April and May 2023
Photo: Adrian S Pye, 7 August 2021, Geograph, CC BY-SA 2.0
In early August 2021 a huge seagull appeared on the end wall of a house where Katwijk Way meets Denmark Road in Lowestoft, swooping towards a real skip full of yellow insulation boards that looked like chips. On 13 August Banksy claimed it in his Instagram video “A Great British Spraycation”. The council put up a protective screen, but the “chips” were stolen, the skip had been taken away by January 2023 (reported 12 January 2023), and the painted wall was cut out in two pieces in April and May 2023. In February 2024 the mural, now in two pieces weighing more than 11.5 tonnes, was offered for private sale. We found no report that it has been sold.
5 things to know
- Claimed in the Spraycation videoPA, 13 August 2021: “In a video posted on his Instagram account, the elusive artist could be seen working on the creations,” among them “one of a seagull on the side of a building.” The BBC: Banksy claimed the east coast pieces by “releasing a video on his Instagram page entitled “A Great British Spraycation””. Banksy on Instagram · PA, 2021 · BBC, 2021
- The skip was part of the workBBC: “A gull on the side of a property appearing to try to eat “chips” – made from pieces of insulation material – from a skip.” East Suffolk Council: “The seagull was painted as if to take some chips from the real skip below.” BBC, 2021 · East Suffolk Council, 2021
- The chips went firstBy February 2022 people were taking the polystyrene “chips”, Suffolk News reported. Art dealer John Brandler: “The skip and chips were put there by Banksy, without them the work is meaningless.” On 12 January 2023 the council was quoted: “The skip has been removed by the property owner and is now in safe storage.” Suffolk News, 2022 · Yorkshire Evening Post, 2023
- Cut out of the wall in 2023ITV News Anglia: “A huge mural painted by the street artist Banksy has been cut out of the wall of a building under cover of darkness.” The Lowestoft Journal: “the top section was removed in April last year, with the bottom part of the mural disappearing in May.” ITV, 2023 · Great Yarmouth Mercury, 2023 · Lowestoft Journal, 2024
- For sale, in two piecesIn February 2024 a website offered “an exclusive opportunity to acquire ‘The Seagull’ mural by Banksy”. The Lowestoft Journal says the two sections weigh about 4.4 and 7.2 tonnes, “more than 11-and-a-half tonnes” in all, stored “securely in the UK”. Lowestoft Journal, 2024 · Suffolk News, 2024 · Sale site
Check-in guide
- 📍
- The gable end of a house on the corner of Katwijk Way and Denmark Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk (East Suffolk Council, BBC, Yorkshire Evening Post).
- 🧱
- There is nothing left to see. The painted brickwork was cut out and taken away in April and May 2023, and work to rebuild the wall had started by June 2023 (East Anglian Daily Times).
- 🧭
- The Maps button uses the subject location on Adrian S Pye’s dated Geograph photo, 52.47473, 1.74889.
Sightings
- 20217 Aug
Geograph photo
- 202113 Aug
Banksy’s video
- 202110 Sep
Council: screened
- 20222 Feb
Chips being taken
- 202312 Jan
Skip removed
- 20236 Apr
Cut out overnight
- 20238 Jun
Wall being rebuilt
- 202427 Feb
Offered for sale
Every stamp links to the dated source. The green stamp is Adrian S Pye’s photo on Geograph, taken on 7 August 2021, which shows the seagull with the skip full of insulation-board “chips”. The amber stamps are dated reports: the PA report of Banksy’s video (13 August 2021), East Suffolk Council’s note that the seagull was under a protective screen (10 September 2021), Suffolk News on the stolen “chips” (2 February 2022), the council’s statement that the skip had gone into storage (reported in the Yorkshire Evening Post on 12 January 2023) and the Lowestoft Journal on the private sale (27 February 2024). The red stamps are ITV News Anglia’s report that the mural was cut out of the wall overnight (6 April 2023; the Great Yarmouth Mercury of 8 April says part of it went on the Tuesday evening) and the East Anglian Daily Times report that both sections had gone and the wall was being rebuilt (8 June 2023).
On the record
Banksy: A guide to his ‘Great British Spraycation’
“Here a vast seagull, painted on a gable wall in a more elaborate manner than one often sees in his work, hovers over a skip filled with huge carved chips”
Prof Gough, quoted in the BBC’s guide to the Spraycation pieces. The same page says work to cover the seagull “on Denmark Road” was still under way.
Lowestoft council remove skip due to illegal dumping…
“The skip has been removed by the property owner and is now in safe storage.”
A council spokesperson, after the “chips” had been taken and the skip had filled with rubbish. A local art dealer said the mural without it was “like having an ice cream without the cone”.
Huge Banksy mural removed overnight from side of Lowestoft house by crane
“A huge mural painted by the street artist Banksy has been cut out of the wall of a building under cover of darkness.”
The first of two overnight crane operations at the corner of Denmark Road and Katwijk Way.
Banksy seagull mural from Lowestoft up in private sale
“the top section was removed in April last year, with the bottom part of the mural disappearing in May.”
Mark Boggis reports that the mural, now in two sections weighing more than 11.5 tonnes, has been listed for private sale by owners who have not been identified.
The facts
- Artist
- Banksy, who claimed the work in his Instagram video “A Great British Spraycation” (Banksy on Instagram, PA, BBC, East Suffolk Council) Checked
- Title
- We found no title from the artist; news reports call it the seagull or the seagull mural (BBC, EADT) Unconfirmed. The 2024 sale listing calls it “The Seagull” (Lowestoft Journal, sale site) Reported
- Made
- Early August 2021: the earliest dated photo we found was taken on 7 August 2021 (Geograph), and Banksy’s video went out on 13 August 2021 (PA) Checked
- Series
- “A Great British Spraycation”, Banksy’s August 2021 run of works in Norfolk and Suffolk seaside towns (BBC, East Suffolk Council, Great Yarmouth Mercury) Checked
- What
- A giant seagull on the gable end of a house, diving towards a real skip filled with insulation boards that stood in for chips (BBC, East Suffolk Council, Yorkshire Evening Post, Geograph photo) Checked. A “6-metre seagull”, according to SBS News (SBS News) Unconfirmed
- Place
- Corner of Katwijk Way and Denmark Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk (East Suffolk Council, BBC, Yorkshire Evening Post, ITV, Lowestoft Journal) Checked. Reports describe the building as a privately owned block of flats or an end-terrace house (EADT, Lowestoft Journal) Checked
- Protection
- East Suffolk Council covered it with a protective screen in 2021 (East Suffolk Council, BBC) Checked. The polystyrene “chips” were being taken by February 2022 (Suffolk News), and the property owner had moved the skip into storage by January 2023, reported 12 January 2023 (Yorkshire Evening Post) Checked
- Removal
- Cut out of the wall in two sections in overnight crane operations, the top in April 2023 and the bottom in May 2023 (ITV, Great Yarmouth Mercury, EADT, Lowestoft Journal) Checked. Building firm Freeman Brickworks did the structural work (EADT) Checked. The house’s owners told The Times the bill would likely be more than £200,000, and that the council had put upkeep at £40,000 a year (SBS News) Reported
- Value
- Art dealer John Brandler: “It has to be worth seven figures – between £1m to £3m” (EADT, Lowestoft Journal) Reported
- Our photo
- The Street Art Utopia photo shows the same seagull with the skip still full of “chips” and the Katwijk Way sign in front, so it was taken before the skip was removed by January 2023 (reported 12 January 2023) (Geograph 2021, Yorkshire Evening Post) Checked
- Status
- Gone 2023: the painted wall was cut out in April and May 2023 and the wall was being rebuilt by June 2023 (ITV, EADT) Checked. In February 2024 the two sections were offered for private sale from storage in the UK (Lowestoft Journal, Suffolk News) Checked. We found no report of a sale or a new home Unconfirmed
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: The Easiest Birdwatching You’ll Ever Do (12 Photos) (11 October 2026), where the seagull appears as work no. 11, and Banksy: A Great British Spraycation (14 August 2021).
- Where every Spraycation piece was and what was happening to each, from Gorleston to King’s Lynn. BBC News
- What became of the other Norfolk and Suffolk pieces, including the Lowestoft rat in a deckchair and the boat in Oulton Broad. Great Yarmouth Mercury
All sources (15)
This work
- Banksy on Instagram: “A Great British Spraycation”, video, August 2021 (embedded in the Great Yarmouth Mercury, 8 April 2023). The artist’s own claim.
- Shropshire Star (PA): “Banksy confirms he was behind streetwork in Suffolk and Norfolk”, published 13 August 2021. The Instagram video; “one of a seagull on the side of a building”.
- BBC News: “Banksy: A guide to his ‘Great British Spraycation’”, 17 August 2021 (first published 10 August). Katwijk Way / Denmark Road, insulation “chips”, screen work under way, Prof Gough.
- East Suffolk Council: “Legacy for the future from Banksy’s East Coast Spraycation”, 10 September 2021. Corner of Katwijk Way and Denmark Road; the real skip; protective screen. Archived copy (the live page may not load in every region).
- Suffolk News: “Lowestoft Banksy artwork plundered by opportunists…”, 2 February 2022. The polystyrene “chips” being taken; John Brandler.
- Yorkshire Evening Post: “Lowestoft council remove skip due to illegal dumping…”, Benjamin Jackson, 12 January 2023. Skip removed by the property owner and stored.
- ITV News Anglia: “Huge Banksy mural removed overnight from side of Lowestoft house by crane”, 6 April 2023. The mural cut out of the wall overnight.
- Great Yarmouth Mercury: “What happened to the Banksy art in Norfolk and Suffolk?”, James Weeds, 8 April 2023. Part of the Katwijk Way seagull removed on the Tuesday evening.
- SBS News: “A couple woke up to find a Banksy mural on their wall. It turned into a ‘living nightmare’”, 26 May 2023. The owners’ account to The Times; removal cost and upkeep.
- East Anglian Daily Times: “Lowestoft: Work starts at site of former Banksy seagull mural”, Mark Boggis, 8 June 2023. Removed in two pieces in April and May; Freeman Brickworks; wall rebuilt.
- Lowestoft Journal: “Banksy seagull mural from Lowestoft up in private sale”, Mark Boggis, 27 February 2024. Sizes and weights; stored in the UK.
- Suffolk News: “Largest Banksy artwork, removed from a home in Lowestoft, to go under the hammer…”, 27 February 2024. Private sale, price on application.
- The Seagull Mural: “Banksy Seagull for sale”, sale website, checked 12 October 2026: “now available for private sale”.
Dated photos
- Geograph: “Banksy – Seagull after “chips””, Adrian S Pye, taken 7 August 2021, CC BY-SA 2.0. The photo at the top of this page.
Context
- Wikipedia: “A Great British Spraycation”. “A large mural of a seagull on the end of a terrace in Lowestoft, Suffolk”.
Artwork File · Last checked 12 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files