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!