An iconic Sheffield story of love up there with Shakespeare’s sonnets, the story behind the “I Love You Will U Marry Me” has all the highs and lows of any love story. Found at Park Hill in Sheffield on the bridge cross across Norwich Street block of flats, the message was a declaration of love.
Jason Lowe braved his fear of heights back in 2001 to scrawl the message in white paint. The message was addressed to his then-girlfriend Clare Middleton. Clare believed they were venturing to the cinema, but in fact, Jason told her to look up at the block of flats where his marriage proposal could be seen.
Claire accepted his offering of love, but it was not to be as the with any Shakespearean tragedy the pair split three months later, with Claire marrying someone else; it gets even sadder as she died from cancer at the age of just 30 in 2007.
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All that remains of their love story is the white graffitied marriage proposal that’s visible for miles above the city.
It made its way into the city’s culture lineage with the likes of Sheffield-born Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys wearing a t-shirt with graffiti printed on it along with Doncaster lad Yungblud being inspired by the graffiti also referencing it in a song.
There was some controversy back in 2021 when the message was removed due to “essential” cleaning by Urban Splash the owners of the block of flats. The move sparked upset across the city with Sheffield artists Richard Hawley, Yungblud and Pulp Drummer Nick Banks expressing their anger about the move.
The public display of affection was removed in February 2021, with Urban Splash saying the concrete needed “essential” cleaning.
As of 13th June, the iconic graffiti is back in place with a new addition of neon lighting added over the top with Urban Splash stating it was always their intention to reinstate the graffiti after repair work.
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Feature Image Credit: : Yasmin Littler/Flickr
