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All the United Kingdom England London Stompie: The Mandela Way T-34 Tank
Stompie: The Mandela Way T-34 Tank is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

AO Edited

Stompie: The Mandela Way T-34 Tank

An abandoned tank sits in an empty London lot as a symbolic middle finger to local city planners.

London, England

Added By
stuartheather89
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CAPTION
Stompie the Mandela Way T-34 Tank   Eugene Goh on Wikipedia
Stompie the Mandela Way T-34 Tank   Loise McLaren on Flickr
Stompie the Mandela Way T-34 Tank   Reading Tom on Flickr
Design as of July 2019   Simpluree / Atlas Obscura User
  Snowdrop68 / Atlas Obscura User
18 April 2021   stopsatgreen / Atlas Obscura User
Golden Stompie Oct 2017   Ranian02 / Atlas Obscura User
  Ranian02 / Atlas Obscura User
T-34 tank in colours of Bauhaus, April 2019   AURELIEN / Atlas Obscura User
  Snowdrop68 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Abandoned since 1995, the Mandela Way T-34 Tank (or "Stompie," as it has been affectionately nicknamed) is a strange war relic that is the product not of a national conflict, but of a fight between a businessman and city planners. The tank is thought to have originally been used by the Czech military during the fighting of the Prague Spring in 1968, but was brought to London during the filming of the movie, Richard III.

The iron coffin was placed in the empty lot in 1995 after it was purchased by local businessman, Russell Gray. The property developer had wanted to build on the empty lot, but his proposal was shut down by the city council. So under the auspices of giving his son a military-grade toy to play with, Gray bought the tank and placed it in the empty lot with the cannon pointed rather conveniently in the direction of the Southwark Council's planning offices. Steps were taken to have the decommissioned ordinance removed from the property, but Gray had actually obtained the proper petitions to keep the tank on the land. The city council approved the permits thinking he had meant, "septic tank." Stompie still sits on its Mandela Way lot to this day, surrounded by scrub and weeds.

In recent years, the tank is usually completely wrapped in works of graffiti, often with some political message. However, the existence of a tank that is essentially a giant middle finger to a local council is maybe the funniest statement of all. The tank sits on its own allotment and can be easily accessed and even has a bench next to it. Stompie was removed for "maintenance" in January 2022.

Update as of November 2023: While the tank has been removed, it has been replaced by the equally defiant Skip House. 

Related Tags

Tanks Abandoned Graffiti

Community Contributors

Added By

stuartheather89

Edited By

racheldoyle, AdamTKincaid, 23grim, Dark Nebula Deluxe...

  • racheldoyle
  • AdamTKincaid
  • 23grim
  • Dark Nebula Deluxe
  • MrCarl
  • nkrempa
  • Atlasobscurauser789
  • jooniur
  • Snowdrop68
  • EricGrundhauser
  • Simpluree
  • Ranian02
  • stopsatgreen
  • AURELIEN

Published

May 6, 2015

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Sources
  • http://www.standard.co.uk/news/revealed-the-story-behind-the-soviet-tank-with-its-guns-trained-on-council-hq-6694874.html
  • http://greatwen.com/2010/11/23/secret-london-the-russian-tank-of-bermondsey/
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandela_Way_T-34_Tank
  • http://bermondsey.org/mandela-way-t-34-tank/
  • https://www.google.com/maps/place/Stompie+Garden+(T-34%2F85+tank)/@51.4929865,-0.0831345,104m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x48760342ab013f51:0xd514184437e96886!2s83+Guinness+Square,+Page's+Walk,+London+SE1+4HP,+UK!3b1!8m2!3d51.4934013!4d-0.0821038!3m4!1s0x48760367e5d6af7b:0x7f991b156745a493!8m2!3d51.4929844!4d-0.0826905
Stompie: The Mandela Way T-34 Tank
105 Page's Walk
London, England, SE1 4HP
United Kingdom
51.492984, -0.08269
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