Britain's Beloved Giant: Angel of the North Turns 25

When Antony Gormley's rust-coloured steel 'Angel of the North' rose over Gateshead in 1998, locals were sceptical of the 20-metre figure with its 54-metre wingspan looming over the A1. In 2023 it celebrated its 25th birthday — by now an undisputed national treasure.

Greeting millions of travellers as they pass through north-east England, the Angel has become a symbol of regional pride and post-industrial renewal.

Gormley, who casts much of his work from his own body, created something that feels both ancient and modern — a guardian with the wings of an aircraft and the stillness of a standing stone.

Image: “Fly-Angel” — David Wilson Clarke, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.