Saturday 16 June 2018

Skeleton in the Cupboard, Money Down the Drain

Never thought I'd see a REAL skeleton in the cupboard, but here he was, the other day.  We were exploring woodlands near Guildford, Surrey, and dropped in at the Watts Gallery Artists' Village.  


I think it's a real skeleton, or at least it was a real artist's studio.  The Watts Gallery has been hidden in the Surrey woods for as long as I can remember.  My memory is of a forgotten, charming little museum with a very nice cafe run by local ladies and owned a slightly decrepit gallery crammed with the Victorian paintings of G.F. Watts (1817-1904)

Watts' paintings were very popular in their day. Between you and me I was never a great fan, but I loved the gallery. So, some years ago, when I learned it had appointed a dynamic new director, I feared its atmosphere might be spoiled.  Mostly, though, the changes have been good. The place is still delightful but now the buildings have been repaired and updated, many have been reopened, and as well as Watts' pictures there's now a gallery of contemporary work with ever changing exhibitions and a really interesting programme of events and activities - way better than most galleries I know.  Oh, and the cafe and shop are also good.  Here is the website. so consider it for a visit if you are in reach of Guildford. 


  I'd actually intended a flying visit in order to see a large detailed map which one of my favourite illustrators, (and a friend), Peter Cross, had made in aid of a crowdfund to erect Watts' statue "Physical Energy" nearby.  Here is a photo of, well, some of  the statue, but it's big and not easy to photograph it all inside the sculpture studio.



I find Watts' sculpture more energetic and powerful than his paintings and I think this will look good on a hillside. In the background, you can spot a cast of another of his sculptures. This one depicts the poet, Alfred, Lord Tennyson - the finished statue was installed outside Lincoln Cathedral in 1905. 



The volunteer in the studio told me that the map  is everyone's favourite thing, and it is very typical of Peter's quirky and original work.   It's based on the punning idea of Watts and Energy, and features a wholly imaginary transport network and many local landmarks including an image of Watts' house, Limnerslease.  (Also, nearby Loseley House, built around 1568, a grand Elizabethan pile. I haven't yet seen around the house,but must.)


And... the map also features Mary Watts' chapel just down the road from the gallery.


Mary was G.F. Watts' second wife, and she sounds as if she was a lovely lady who doted on her (much older but very dynamic) husband.


Mary was very interested in art and design and started a pottery to give employment to the local villagers. (In those days, more than a hundred years ago, Surrey was full of hard-up farming folk - unlike today, when many local residents are wealthy).  Her biggest project was a cemetery chapel just up the road, using ceramic tiles from the pottery and designed in her unique style which is something between Celtic and Victorian. 

You can see what the outside of the chapel looks like from Peter's drawing - tall, thin, cruciform and made of decorative red brick.  Inside, it's a mass of multi coloured glazed saints covering the walls and ceiling, and saints in the same teardrop shape as in Peter's picture. 




Apart from the interior of their home, Limnerslease, this is the only surviving major work of Mary Watts. 

On our way home, we dropped in at the nearby church at Elstead, where we met the churchwarden who was just locking up. Here's a photo of the interior of the church. We were immediately struck by the massive beams at the far end,  hewn from oaks of gigantic size hundreds of years ago. This bit of the church is directly underneath the tower. 



The churchwarden pointed out something we would never have found.  On the right corner, there is a very old doorway, halfway up the wall and built on one of the beams. 


It is so narrow and hard to reach (impossible without a ladder) that you can tell it is very old. Peeping behind the huge beam, you see the door gives access to the tower up huge steep stairs cut directly into the oak.  I've never seen anything like this before, and can imagine that climbing those steps in such a confined space must have been very hard.   I took the photo below craning my neck looking upwards and so the perspective is strange, but take it from me that those maintained the bells or went to the belfry for any other reason, would need to be very agile indeed! Why, I wonder, did people in the past make life so difficult for themselves?  


On the way home we bought some eggs at a roadside stall. I liked the way the eggs were displayed on straw and there were some interesting cuttings and photos to look at. The stall is unmanned and you fill up the second-hand egg boxes yourself.  I think the owner had a sense of humour because ...



....payment for the eggs was made by an honesty system which involved literally throwing money down the drain!




39 comments:

  1. You are so good at finding these out-of-the-way places that most of us don’t see - many thanks for these.

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  2. Love the payment system!
    Another good day out. Good idea of Mary's to make the locals learn pottery, a good sideline.
    English churches always have strange sights such as the entrance to the tower. It may have been caused by adding bits over the years.
    Good post.

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  3. Must look out the place & visit when I can, chapel looks worth the visit

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  4. You go to the most interesting places, Jenny. Don’t many families have a skeleton or two hanging in the closet?

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  5. You wanted to surprise me?? Great Galley! and the skeleton in the cupboard brings me back to the days I studied at a science schoolroom of my junior high school.
    The owner of the egg stall is wonderful. My heart is so warm to see the pretty roadside stall.
    Happy day to you.

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  6. I would have bought something just for the fun of it.

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  7. I live quite near Guilford so I may take a trip The Watts Gallery. It looks interesting. That map would make a great jigsaw!

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  8. What a fascinating excursion. From the opening remarks I expected a dark or dingy place. My goodness, what a lot of zing! I laughed heartily at the map. Mary's contribution is well worth the visit.

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  9. Thank you for another great post!
    The map is a style worth collecting, besutiful artwork.
    A research project to learn why searching a
    Energy Art results in a horse sculpture is done. The sculpture above is the one in those results.

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  10. And were the EGGs delicious? I bet they were.
    I would not climb up that belfry for all of the money in the world. Nope. Not me.

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  11. Old stuff, but still fascinating. Makes me wonder how on earth people actually lived in those days. The steps leading to the bell tower would have given me the creeps. Were you invited to go higher?

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  12. Fascinating! Especially the door in the beams. Mystery and intrigue! I can imagine it might be used as punishment- " go sit on the stairs until you can behave!" Beautiful place in all. Thank you!

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  13. A very interesting post. I agree with you on the sculptures. They do look quite real. Thanks.

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  14. It’s good that the place has been repaired without being “updated” into ugliness, and i guess they wanted to discourage anyone but those authorized from accessing that tower. No lads bent on mischief need try.

    What a nice egg stand, i am glad they are still able to use the honor system!

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  15. Looks like another wonderful adventure. Mary and GF sound like an interesting pair. Wishing you a wonderful summer.

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  16. To throw money into the drain, that's really unusual. Jenny. These people trust to everyone, it's wonderful.
    The skeleton in a wardrobe is unusual as well, ha ha. It said all of us have own skeleton in any place. Maybe...
    I love Mary Watts' chapel, it's fantastic, lovely ceramic tiles and icons.
    Thanks for sharing, happy weekend!

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  17. Hello Jennie, I have been up in a lot of bell towers, and climbed narrow, steep staircases of iron or stone, but your wooden example is a real nightmare! I have had the same thought when viewing inconvenient arrangements in old buildings--it would have been so easy to build it comfortably, especially in what are considered more "spacious" days.
    --Jim

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  18. This was fascinating! An adventuresome day, for sure. Thanks for taking us along. :)

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  19. The map is wonderful. I love all the word-play like Sic Transit and Mind The Gap. The Physical Energy statue is magnificent. As you say, you'd have to be very agile to climb those steps to the tower. Of course in those days people were smaller and thinner so that might have helped.

    I wouldn't like to come across that skeleton unexpectedly - very creepy!

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  20. You took me back years....I had no idea, though, of the chapel.

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  21. Money down the drain? That is hilarious!

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  22. I was impressed with everything in this post - Watt' paintings and sculptures, Mary's handiwork....and I am astounded by those perilous steps going up to the church tower, and the unusual payment for the eggs!
    I also really like that skeleton in the cupboard!

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  23. Wow, that was so interesting, Jenny. I'm going back for another read. There are so many points I was going to comment on but by the time I'd got to the end I had forgotten what they were. I know one thing, you would never get me climbing those stairs to the bell tower!

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  24. Such an interesting post. And what a way to end the day by throwing money down the drain!

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  25. It seems like a delightful day, but that veggie stand might be the most delightful of all. Gotta love the honour system.

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  26. That map really is enchanting :) And that hidden door and steps in the beam of the old church very intriguing too. The skeleton reminds me that when I took a course to be a medical secretary (as late as in 1992) we had a real skeleton to fiddle with on the anatomy lessons (learning the names of all the various bones in the body). A bit spooky.

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  27. Oh I did enjoy the egg stall. Brilliant! And I love Mary Watts' tile designs. Beautifully rich and warm too. They remind me of the interiors of Orthodox churches but in more of a country style. Just lovely!

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  28. There are un-manned vendors along the country road of the popular hiking route. I like to buy some as the products are cheap and fresh. I like the egg vendor's humour. The money you threw was never down the drain for the nutritious eggs. Anyway, these English idioms are interesting.

    Yoko

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  29. Another fascinating post of yours, Jenny - thank you! Love the "money down the drain", and of course the map, that is just fantastic! Do you also love it when a novel you read has a map to show where things in the story happen in relation to each other? That Watts map could inspire a great book!

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  30. This spot is just charming, Jenny! I love the map -- whimsical and clever and so beautifully rendered. And the fruit stand made me very happy indeed. The chapel sounds beautiful and most of all it feel like a wonderful little haven. You do find the best spots, interesting, off the path. I love that!

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  31. I really like this post Jenny, I had never heard of Watts before, and I'm not sure I particularly like his style. but it's good to know. Your friend's map is wonderful, I've always liked that style of cartoon-ish map, but the ones I've seen are pretty old, and I wasn't aware of any modern ones. I'm surprised that honesty systems still work, but a clever idea to get the cash away into a safer place.

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  32. That's why I never open the cupboard in the back room...not sure what I'd find in there!! :)

    There are many roadside stalls here where I live working on the "honour system". People selling their home-grown produce...and trusting passers-by to be honest. Mostly people are honest and pay...but, of course, there are always the clowns in society who think they're clever and don't pay. I don't know how they live with their conscience.

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  33. I love the map and the stairs. And I'm always throwing money down the drain!

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  34. Interesting place to visit, although I’m most take with the egg stand.

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  35. Love the splendid horse and would find it difficult to leave behind ...

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  36. It could be said trust is a long and continuous stream in human history.

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  37. That was another interesting post (as always) and I thought I'd already added a comment just after my Brother but obviously not. As a former bell-ringer I was particularly fascinated by the entrance to the bell-tower.

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  38. The area of Ontario where I live (Waterloo) is the epicentre of Mennonite culture in the province and the honesty box at the end of the lane from the farm is standard practice. Everything from maple syrup to fresh flowers to seasonal produce is bought this way. And it works. I suspect that if anything people tend to leave a little extra rather than cheat.

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  39. The family library on the Isle of Wight holds Tennyson’s writing desk, letters and photographs by his colleague Julia Margaret Cameron and portraits by his friend GF Watts. Most people would have expected that. But I wonder if visitors to the Watts Gallery expected a sculpture of the poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson to have been created there.

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