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Mabley Green in Hackney, east London, sits in the shadow of the 2012 Olympic Park. During World War One it was home to the National Projectile Factory, Hackney Marshes.

The factory was immortalised by the artist Anna Airy who had been commissioned by the Imperial War Museums in 1918. A Shell Forge at a National Projectile Factory, Hackney Marshes illustrates factory workers handling molten hot shell casings from the furnace. It was one of Airy鈥檚 most challenging works to paint because the heat from the forge affected both her materials and footwear. The painting was one of four by Airy representing scenes from munitions or armaments factories.

Anna Airy was unusual in that she was one of the few female war artists and was under strict terms of employment which meant the Museum could refuse a work and not pay for it.

Very little evidence of the factory at Mabley Green remains. Football pitches now dominate the land.

Location: Mabley Green, Hackney, London E9 5RN
Image: Anna Airy鈥檚 painting, courtesy of IWM

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