This is why Worthing’s Oscar Wilde mural has disappeared

Eagle-eyed - or should we say, seagull-eyed - members of the public will have noticed that the graffiti mural of the famous playwright outside the Corner House pub has been replaced by a colourful gull.

The mural of Oscar Wilde by mysterious graffiti artist Horace was one of the most popular in a series of artworks around Worthing celebrating the town’s most famous sons and daughters.

The novelist wrote The Importance of Being Earnest during one summer in Worthing.

Now, a spokeswoman for Worthing’s answer to Banksy has confirmed why it was replaced, and why other seagull murals had popped up around the town.

She said: “Oscar Wilde was rubbing off as it was originally painted in the rain.

“The seagulls were all painted to promote the exhibition that Horace is part of at the Yard Gallery and the one on the Corner House is a rainbow seagull for pride month.”

On Saturday and Sunday, at the gallery in Little High Street, Worthing, the three week-long exhibition of urban art culminates with a music and arts festival. Visit The Yard Gallery on Facebook to find out more.