The first section of Europe’s largest Christian landmark has been built.
The start of 188 huge concrete segments that will form Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer in Coleshill, near Birmingham, has been completed at a purpose-built factory in Portugal.
The monument is set to feature one million stories of answered prayer and has gone under construction more than two decades after its founder first had the vision.
Designed as a giant Möbius strip, the £40m project will be constructed from one million bricks, with each digitally linked to a testimony of answered prayer. These will be accessible through smartphones when scanning bricks on the monument.
At 169ft, or 51m, it’s more than twice the height of the Angel of the North near Newcastle and is set to open to the public in 2029.
Founder Richard Gamble travelled to Portugal with Eternal Wall staff, volunteers and donors to witness the milestone.
He said: “I never thought a piece of concrete would make me so emotional. For more than two decades Eternal Wall has existed as a picture in my mind, then on drawings and computer screens. To finally stand in front of it and actually touch it was overwhelming.
“People have laughed at the idea and thought I was crazy. But now it physically exists. It’s real. It’s happening.”
The huge sculpture is being built in Portugal
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The segments will be transported to the Midlands in stages and assembled to form the landmark at the Coleshill site, where groundwork started last year.
GB News attended the groundbreaking ceremony last year where 200 guests were present, including donors, civic leaders, pastors and long-standing supporters. They gathered on site to witness the start of building work. The message from organisers was that the UK must not lose sight of its Christian roots.
At the time, founder and Former Leicester City chaplain Gamble told the People’s Channel that he first had the vision for Eternal Wall in 2004 after carrying a large wooden cross around Leicestershire at Easter and praying: “God, what do you want me to do next?” and said an image flashed through his mind of a national landmark declaring what Jesus had done.
“The structure will remind future generations of the nation’s Christian heritage,” he previously said.
The first section has been built
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“God spoke to me about this 21 years ago, so it’s been a roller coaster journey and it’s just a real thrill today that we can get started,” Mr Gamble said.
“We want to proclaim to the nation that Jesus is alive. He listens and He answers our prayers. We’re not just collecting the answered prayers from now, but from all of history.
“So we want to preserve the Christian heritage of the nation and get schools and colleges to come and visit and find out all the stories of what God’s done through our history. I think particularly now, that’s more important than ever.
“When we ran a global competition with the Royal Institute of British Architects, we didn’t want it to have the Christian iconography. We wanted to be a stunning structural design that basically encourages people to come along and have a look.
Richard Gamble is leading the project
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“When they come, they’ll be able to see all these tiny bricks on it and realise how big a million is, and I hope as a piece of art that’s going to inspire millions of people to think about praying.
“Over 50,000 people have got involved in this project and this is a way of us being bold and declaring to the nation that actually, there are loads of Christians in this country who want people to know what they what they believe in and what they stand for.”
An international architectural competition eventually attracted 133 designs from 28 countries, before planning permission was secured for the site near Birmingham.
Land for the site was donated by IM Properties, owned by Midlands-based businessman Lord Robert Edmiston. The same company made more than a £30 million donation towards the build costs.
The Conservative peer previously told GB News: “We want it to be the project for the church in the nation. I don’t want my name on it in any way. Nothing I’ve ever done has my name on it, not my company and not my charity, and I want it that way.
“I want it to be owned by the church, and Christians in this country and perhaps other countries too, will contribute their prayers to encourage people that God does still answer prayer.
At the height of eleven double decker buses, Eternal Wall will be visible to 800,000 people per year. Visitors will use their phone to interact with individual bricks and discover stories of answered prayer in written, audio and video format.
More than 100,000 answered prayers have already been submitted with 250,000 the target for opening day.
To find out more, visit www.eternalwall.org.uk
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