Joy Ride
JOY RIDE, CENTRAL SQUARE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1031588
- Date first listed:
- 15-Apr-1998
- List Entry Name:
- Joy Ride
- Statutory Address:
- JOY RIDE, CENTRAL SQUARE
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2004-03-07
- Reference:
- IOE01/11527/14
- Rights:
- © Mr Peter Warwick. Source: Historic England Archive
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Official list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1031588
- Date first listed:
- 15-Apr-1998
- List Entry Name:
- Joy Ride
- Statutory Address 1:
- JOY RIDE, CENTRAL SQUARE
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- JOY RIDE, CENTRAL SQUARE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Hertfordshire
- District:
- Stevenage (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TL 23795 24091
Details
TL2324 STEVENAGE CENTRAL SQUARE
733-0/3/10006 Joy-ride
GV II
Sculpture. 1958-9 by Franta Belsky. Bronze mother and child on circular stone plinth, the mother carrying her little boy on her back. The mother figure is remarkable for the integration of her dress and skin as a single, tensile form.
Franta Belsky (1921- ) came to Britain in 1938 from Bmo, Czechoslovakia, and combined studies at the Royal College of Art with military service. Although today as well known as a portraitist as for his public sculpture, it was with 'Joy-ride' and the slightly earlier 'Lesson' (LB Tower Hamlets, 1956) that he achieved maturity. He was commissioned by Stevenage Development Corporation to produce something symbolic for a recently created New Town, the Corporation having been inspired by the use of symbolic sculpture in the rebuilding of bombed Rotterdam. The figures are thus symbolic of the arrival of a new generation in a New Town. The vertical composition with its high centre of interest is a response to its setting on top of a platform with stairs and railings to either side, and a carefully preserved group of trees below. It is amongst his most distinctive works, specifically designed for a distinguished location.
(Franta Belsky: Sculpture: Prague and London: -1922).
Listing NGR: TL2379524091
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 469097
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Belsky, F, Sculpture, (1922)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 23-Jun-2026 at 15:53:23.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.