'The Martian' – Woking, England - Atlas Obscura
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'The Martian'

Woking, England

An enormous alien invades Woking, England, as an homage to the H.G. Wells classic 'The War of the Worlds.' 

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The sculpture. Warofdreams/cc by-sa 2.0
The sculpture. Warofdreams/cc by-sa 2.0
A different angle of the sculture. reidrac/cc by-sa 2.0
An illustration from the original book. Henrique Alvim Correa/public domain
Plaque beneath the Martian AdOYo (Atlas Obscura User)
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An alien has landed in Woking, England. Thankfully, though, this one won’t go on any destructive rampages.

The Martian was installed by artist Michael Condron to commemorate the 100th anniversary of H.G. Wells’ classic The War of the Worlds. In the book, one of the famous tripods lands and wreaks havoc in Horsell Common, which is not far from Woking.

While walking down the street, it’s hard to miss this enormous alienesque artwork. The Martian stands 23 feet (seven meters) tall, and its spindly legs are only seven inches (17 centimeters) thick.

There are three components to the sculpture: the Cylinder, Bacteria, and the Tripod itself. Slabs bearing images of the bacteria cover the ground below the capsule. You can see an alien’s tentacles poke out of the bottom of the probe. Its back is turned to Horsell Common, where the UFO comes from in the novel. It’s made of stainless steel and has a chrome finish.

Know Before You Go

You can walk by the sculpture at any time.

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Nearby
The Sandpit on Horsell Common
1.20 miles
Holy Well of St. John the Baptist
3.20 miles
Brooklands Racetrack Remains
4.58 miles
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