Angel of the North Angel of the North The Angel of the North is a contemporary sculpture, designed by Antony Gormley, located in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Completed in 1998, it is a steel sculpture of an angel, tall, with wings measuring across. The wings do not stand straight sideways, but are angled 3.5 degrees forward; Gormley did this to create "a sense of embrace". The angel like much of Gormley's other work is based on a cast of his body. It stands on the hill of Birtley, at Low Eighton in Lamesley, overlooking the A1 and A167 roads into Tyneside, and the
Angel of the North was built to withstand winds of over 100 mph (160 km/h). Thus, foundations containing of concrete anchor the sculpture to rock below. The sculpture was built at Hartlepool Steel Fabrications Ltd using COR-TEN weather-resistant steel. It was made in three parts—with the body weighing and two wings weighing each—then brought to its site by road. The components were transported in convoy—the body on a 48-wheel trailer—from their construction site in Hartlepool, up the A19 road to the installation site away; the nighttime journey took five hours and attracted large crowds. The "Angel" aroused some controversy in British newspapers, at first,