The Kirby Estate Supports England’s Footballers

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From the outside, the Kirby Estate seems like one of the many inter-war estates to be found around Bermondsey in SE London.

But walk in through the arch when there is a big international football tournament on, and you emerge into the courtyard festooned by a riot of England flags fluttering in the summer breeze. There are flags outside every flat and strung between lampposts. It’s not 100% England flags, there are a few others representing the diverse background of the Kirby Estate residents.

The Kirby Estate England flags are a phenomenon that have grown since they were first hung in 2012 for the Euros. First the UK media noticed them and then news of them spread across the world gaining global recognition for the estate.

New for 2022, to mark the Women’s European Cup, is a gleaming mural of Fran Kirby, the number 14 in the England Lionesses. The mural was created by MurWalls using just spray paint and a bucket load of artistic talent.

Directions

The Kirby Estate is at the junction of Jamaica Road and Southwark Park Road. If you go and take some pictures, make sure you put something in the donation bucket which is to the right of the mural and is collecting for the Bede who have been working in Southwark since 1938.

Spray painted mural of footballer Fran Kirby at the Kirby Estate (Bermondsey SE London) with England flags flying from the flat's balconies
England flags flying from the flat's balconies and strung between lampposts on the Kirby Estate in Bermondsey, SE London
Spray painted mural of footballer Fran Kirby at the Kirby Estate (Bermondsey SE London) seen through England flags flying from the flat's balconies
Spray painted mural of footballer Fran Kirby at the Kirby Estate (Bermondsey SE London) seen through England flags flying from the flat's balconies
England flags flying from the flat's balconies on the Kirby Estate in Bermondsey, SE London

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