To The Wattses country!

I'm back from a long awaited Sunday trip out of London. We went to visit Watts Gallery and other nice places in the area near Guildford. Here you can read about it.The gallery has attracted me for years, but this time I was determined to get there before the exhibition on the tragic 19th century painter, Richard Dadd, finishes. Seeing it was the main but not the only point on our agenda. We wanted to explore the area, learn about the talented couple who chose an old village of Compton for their Arts and Crafts home which they called Limnerslease.

The house is now being restored and not possible to see on Sundays. However, my determination to at least catch a glimpse of it was awarded. As we were leaving the gallery, all in the car already and after an unsuccessful lap of honour in search of the house, I got off and dashed to the gift shop and asked the nice couple behind the till. They were very helpful and the lady offered to walk me to the place from which I would be able to see a little of the house!

She told me many interesting facts about the place. I learnt that the two houses across the road were built by The Watts for their driver and gardener. Now they are in private hands. On the grounds of the driver's house Mary had a huge kiln built instructed by the family friend and another artist: William De Morgan. She showed me the picture of the kiln on her phone and I simply had to tell her and her colleague about the kilns at The Centre of Polish Sculpture in Oronsko near my home town. We spoke for a while and I told them about many interesting places in my neighbourhood. Can you believe that? I also managed to mention the former residence of Sir John Soane in Ealing where I live now! It was a very happy moment for me... My friends left behind in the car didn't really mind waiting, as they had something to do: learn Spanish, mark tests and so on!

I haven't yet shown you what we saw at Watts gallery and you already know what happened as we were leaving. When we got near the village, we left it for later and headed towards the gallery. However, we found a place to park the car by the Watts Mortuary Chapel atop a small hill with a cemetery. Mary and George Watts presented Compton with the chapel to mark the opening of thenew cemetery.

We went uphill towards the chapel. It was impressive from the outside. I admired the effort Mary put into building it and the fact that she involved the local people in producing the beautiful details that form the structure.

 However, I was not prepared for the magnificence of the interior...

I'm so glad I took these few pictures as I will be able to look again and again at these splendid details.
There is no time to write more about the creating of this awe inspiring building. I cannot believe that for some time in the 20th century it was considered in bad taste by some. To me the craftsmanship and the imaginative idea behind the design make the chapel outstanding.

Let me share this bit from Dear Wiki with you:
 'A group of local amateurs and enthusiasts, many of whom later went on with Mary Fraser-Tytler to found the Compton Potters' Arts Guild, constructed the chapel from 1896 to 1898; virtually every village resident was involved. The ground plan is essentially circular; from the outside the building has the look of a Roman Italianate chapel. Local villagers were invited to decorate the chapel under Mary's guidance, resulting in an interior that fuses art nouveau and Celtic influences, combined with Mary's own original style.^[3] Each member of Fraser-Tytler's evening class, led by Louis Deuchars, had a separate job, with 74 Compton villagers taking part. G.F. Watts paid for the project and also painted a version of The All-Pervading for the altar only three months before he died.'

You know? I could stay inside for much longer, but there were so many other things to see! We walked into the sun again and strolled around the cemetery.

I went to The Historic England website to read about the cemetery cloister: 
'Mary also designed a red brick Italianate Watts Memorial Cloister (listed Grade II) which was completed in 1907 on the top of the hill to house a memorial to her husband. It has been likened to the Loggia in Postman’s Park, a small memorial garden in the City of London, which was designed by George Watts in 1887. Unlike the shelter at Postman’s Park, however, the cloister is both an ambulatory and a place of contemplation, with views south-west across to Compton village and the surrounding countryside. Its style is Italianate and reminiscent of Catholic processional covered ways.'
 

Taking the steep path  back to the road we stopped at the pretty well:

Then we went towards the gallery enjoying the idyllic scenery:

Having purchased the tickets we decided to stop at the local coffee shop to gain some energy before the serious sightseeing. There were four exhibitions awaiting us:
- Paintings of G.F. Watts who had the gallery built
- Works and life of Richard Dadd
- Sculptures by G.F. Watts
- Works by De Morgans!

We were served by a very friendly and pleasant Polish waitress of the name Agnieszka. On her advice I ordered the vegetable soup with a truly big bun and butter whereas my friends went for jacket potatoes and salad, both very enjoyable.

To be frank with you, we also awarded ourselves a treat in the form of a piece of cake among the three of us. It was nothing else but... ginger spiced parsnip cake, can you believe that? Curiosity satisfied and heavier, we were quite ready for a nap somewhere in a quiet corner. Luckily, no such place revealed itself to us and we headed for our feast for the eyes!

Dear Reader, it does take time to produce a post and I am sure you will find it too long to read it so let me just add a few more pictures of the other things we saw.

We climbed the steps to the contemporary art gallery and framing studio run by a father and son!

The village of Compton with its 10th century St Nicholas Church (greetings to my nephew, the saint's namesake;-) )

Well guarded supposedly Norman graffiti:

One of the dwellings in the village of Compton:

Imagine how many tenants it could house in London!;-)

St Nicholas Church from the other angle:

When we returned to the church parking place I used my camera for the last time as this car with bikes on the roof reminded my of a journey across Europe. It was many years ago, in the previous century...

I may add more pictures of the day when my friend shares his with me. They will be of Normandy (Yes, Normandy indeed, dear Elena Priestley, despite the tunnel kerfuffle! ;-) ), Warnborough with its very old St Bartolomew Church, Golden Jubilee pole? and various barns, and of... Hogs Back!

Enough for now! Good night!