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All the United Kingdom Wales Flintshire Duke of Lancaster
Duke of Lancaster is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Duke of Lancaster

Abandoned ship reimagined as a street art canvas.

Flintshire, Wales

Added By
Allison Meier
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Street art by KIWIE on the Duke of Lancaster   DuDug Collective
Skeletal diver by Cream Soda Crew   DuDug Collective
Mural by Fat Heat   DuDug Collective
  Fragglehunter
  Fragglehunter
The dockside by the ship open in August 2021 for the Fun Ship Festival   rbenn250 / Atlas Obscura User
  Fragglehunter
The Council of Monkeys by Goin   Gareth Hacking. Copyright: Gareth Hacking
  Fragglehunter
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About

This rusting passenger ship has been reimagined as a giant canvas for street artists from around the world.

Started in fall of 2012 by the DuDug Collective, their name a play on "Black Duke" in Welsh, the project to bring international street artists to paint over the hull and sometimes the interior of the ship is only one stage of the Duke of Lancaster's story of rebirths. The Duke of Lancaster was originally a passenger ferry launched in 1956, then left in its current dry dock in the Dee Estuary in northern Wales where it became a nightclub called the Funship in the 1980s. 

The second phase of the street artists' collaboration with the worn surface of the massive ship (all done with permission from the ship owners) started in March 2013, and there are plans to open the whole interior as a giant art gallery.

Update June, 2017: The ship has been painted painted black on almost none of the artwork remains (one small piece on a lifeboat and some partial work on the windows). According to the bartenders at the pub across the street, it was painted over for a film and/or a BMW commercial.

Update September 2018: According to the Daily Post, the ship will be reopened as a new zombie-themed attraction in early 2019. 

 

 

Related Tags

Abandoned Graffiti Ships Outsider Art Lost Wonders

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Added By

Allison

Edited By

Gareth Hacking, MrJaniak, had2021, Fragglehunter...

  • Gareth Hacking
  • MrJaniak
  • had2021
  • Fragglehunter
  • rbenn250

Published

April 2, 2013

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Sources
  • http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/20/world/europe/duke-of-lancaster-abandoned-ship-graffiti
  • http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2013/feb/07/duke-lancaster-graffiti-ship-pictures
  • http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/9857481/Neglected-ship-the-Duke-Of-Lancaster-is-turned-into-floating-graffiti-gallery.html
  • https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/terrifying-zombie-experience-coming-north-15189610
  • https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45626924
Duke of Lancaster
Dee Estuary
Flintshire, Wales, CH8 9DT
United Kingdom
53.30698, -3.235334
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