Revolution mosaic to 'return home' from Ironbridge Power Station

The mosaic, which measures five metres by three metres, is currently displayed in a conference room at the power plant, which was officially switched off last week.

But as the station is decommissioned, the work of art will be given back to St Martins School near Oswestry, which designed and made the mosaic in the 1960s.

Clare Ellis, PA to the headteacher at St Martins School, said staff and pupils were delighted to be getting the mosaic back.

"It's like it's really coming home," she said. "It's really exciting. It's almost like it's been on loan for all these years and now we're getting it back.

The artwork was made in 1966 by the school, which was then St Martins Secondary Modern.

Mrs Ellis said: "It was made in three large pieces and then transported up to Ironbridge. When I saw it I wondered how they got it into the conference room, because it really is huge.

"It's probably too big to go inside the school because we haven't got a wall that big. We're looking at putting it outside by the reception so that all our visitors can see it.

"We're not quite sure what the board is like that it's been stuck on to, so it's going to be a bit of a trial to see if it will work outside."

A group from the school is planning to visit the power plant again this week to look at logistic of transporting the giant piece of art.

Mrs Ellis said the mosaic will probably be split into three parts again for transport back to the school.

The school's chairman of governors has offered to help with transport in the new year, once E.ON has finished using that part of the power station.

"To see it in the flesh, it's really vibrant. It was based on the Industrial Revolution, although I don't know who designed it," Mrs Ellis said.

"We haven't got any staff now who were involved in making it, so it would be interesting to hear from any past staff or pupils who know more about its history."

The power station was shut down on Friday after 46 years – 20,000 hours – of generating energy.

A small team from E.ON will now begin the decommissioning phase, which is due to run until early 2017. Once the decommissioning process is complete, a decision will be made regarding the future of the site.