Locus Focus: No. 18

A Cambridgeshire field near Stretham was the location for The Division Bell cover photography on Pink Floyd’s 1994 album. Artist Keith Breeden illustrated the original image and sculptors Aden Hynes and John Robertson set to work on the metallic ‘bigheads’ which were set down in a landscape with Ely cathedral in the background.

The concept was overseen by the band’s album cover designer Storm Thorgerson. A temporary installation, the two 20-foot high profiles were constructed out of fibreglass, polystyrene, a timber frame and sheets of metal and not intended for exhibition. But the extraordinary artwork became an iconic image in Pink Floyd folklore and, more than a decade after first gracing the band’s fourth UK chart-topping LP, the sculptures were sought out by The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame as an addition to the collection of artefacts on display in Cleveland, Ohio. Special measures were put in place to avoid low bridges but a further problem faced the ‘bigheads’ when they arrived outside the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame… how to get them through the entrance. Both doors were removed and the sculptures were hoisted up to the museum’s third floor where they remain on show today. Replicas can be found on the roof of the old EMI building (now Warners and Parlophone) in London.

The Division Bell field east of Stretham is location No.41 in the new edition of Rock Atlas UK & Ireland, published by Red Planet.