In Vigilia Nativitatis, December 1913

The December 1913 edition of The Vineyard included the following poem by James Archibald Campbell, a writer I am still keen to discover more about.

The Flight Into Egypt by Arthur Hughes
Frontispiece, The Vineyard, December 1913

A young pine stood there, gaunt, on high,

Against the leaden northern sky;

Cold as abstractions, made abstruse,

Sharp as an argument's abuse.

Just then a little boy went past,

And clasped his hands around its mast.

"How strong it is, and brave !" said he,

"God meant it for a Christmas Tree,

To scare with lights dark night's alarms,

And carry gifts on all its arms.

Father, do young tree's fingers too

Get nipped by frost, as children's do

We'll dress it in the warm fire's glow

Where Santa Claus goes to and fro,

Then plant it, sheltered from the snow,

Till the dear Christ Child makes it grow!"

Maude Egerton King's grave restored

Following on from finding Maude's grave at St Bartholomew's cemetery in the Summer, the church and the Haslemere Educational Museum have been incredibly helpful in restoring and preserving Maude's grave.

Maude Egerton King's gravestone, December 2015

• Philip Hunt, St Bartholomew's Churchyard representative managed to persuade Waverley Borough Council to clear the site of Maude's grave, and the grave site was cleared at the beginning of December
• Haslemere Educational Museum agreed to take custody of Maude's deteriorating wooden grave marker, and it is now currently drying out at the museum in a controlled environment
• I am now looking after Maude's grave in the absence of any next of kin!

Maude Egerton King's overgrown grave, Summer 2015

Maude Egerton King's grave, December 2015

Maude's grave was barely visible in the Summer, as the site was overgrown with shrubs and brambles.  The recent cut back reveals the gravestone to Maude and her daughter Katharine King.

Maude Egerton King's grave marker, drying out in transit to
Haslemere Educational Museum

Maude Egerton King's grave marker, drying out in transit to
Haslemere Educational Museum

  

We decorated Maude's grave with four ivy crowns, fresh from the Tree Dressing Ceremony at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum.  I would like to think that Maude may have supported such an event which celebrates the English folk traditions.  I think that the simplicity of a crown fashioned out of ivy from the Sussex woods could have appealed to her.  I hope she likes them.

The Spies - no longer under cover at the V&A

It is wonderful to see that the Haslemere Peasant Industries' The Spies is now on display in the Victoria & Albert Museum.   When I last visited in 2013 the 'Haslemere Peasant Hanging' (in this blog post) was on display in the Arts and Crafts gallery.  My understanding was that it had been on display here for some time.  When I inquired recently about seeing The Spies at Clothworkers Hall, where the V&A keep their textile storage, I was surprised to hear that The Spies was actually on display the V&A, at gallery 125 on the 4th Floor.  So back I went.

The Spies on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum,
gallery 125, October 2015

When I had visited in 2013, my opinion was that the 'Haslemere Peasant Hanging' was shown as the centrepiece of the Arts and Crafts main gallery.  Upon visiting on Friday, I now see that there was a bigger, central space in the gallery which now has The Spies hanging there.  The hanging that was there in 2013 clearly did not capture my interest!  I'm not sure what it was, but The Spies looks much better there now!  Comparing the 2015 and 2013 photographs, I cannot see that much, if any, of the other exhibits in that room have changed.  How nice to remove one Haslemere piece and put another Haslemere piece back.  I wonder if there was that thought behind the display?

'Haslemere Peasant Hanging' at the Victoria and Albert Museum,
gallery 125, January 2013

The space the 'Haslemere Peasant Hanging' occupied in 2013 is now home to Voysey's 'Owl' furnishing fabric, shown here in the V&A's library.   The same source states that the 'Haslemere Peasant Hanging' is in storage, here.

The Spies, handwoven and embroidered linen,
by Godfrey Blount, Victoria & Albert Museum online here

It was very interesting seeing The Spies in real life and hanging on display, after having examined it so many times online.  Whilst the 'Haslemere Peasant Hanging' is an arresting piece in it's bright and stark simplicity, The Spies demonstrates the enormous skill of the movement.  Having been owned by Joseph King, it seems highly likely that The Spies is one of the most significant pieces made by the Peasant Arts movement.  It is not just the visuals but the Bible story that is behind the scene depicted (which I explored in my post here), and the knowledge that this was also depicted above the entrance of the King's home, Sandhouse.  

The Spies
on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum

The Spies
on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum

The Spies
on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum

In Country Life (27 August 1910) 'Homes, Gardens, Old & New' the entrance to Sandhouse is described "Below, an octagonal porch juts out in very interesting fashion.  On its face is a large plaster panel brilliantly coloured.  The walls of the house are of rich red brick diapered with blue, and by a happy chance some of the blue bricks by the porch have turned green, and so pick up the green which, next to the purple of the giant grapes, predominates in the plaster panel."  I expect that the plasterwork would have been that of Godfrey Blount, the Kings' brother-in-law.

The Spies, plaster panel above the porch to Sandhouse,
Country Life  (27 August 1910)

In gallery 125 it was interesting to see that the book guide to the room has 2 pages of photographs of the Haslemere movement.  I did not look at this, if it was there, last time I visited.

'Question of Design', book in gallery 125,
Victoria & Albert Museum,
with 2 photographs of the Haslemere Peasant Arts movement

The furniture in front of The Spies is:

• 18. Lectern (1903-1904), designed by architect Charles Harrison Townsend
• 19. Cabinet (1893), designed by George Washington Jack, made by Morris & Co.
• 20. Chair (about 1883), by A.H. Mackmurdo

  

Haslemere Walking Festival - Peasant Walk 26th Sept

We had a lovely walk on Saturday as part of the first Haslemere Walking Festival.  It was a warm and sunny Indian Summer day.  Numbers were limited to 20, but with only 4 people booked(!) that was not a problem.  In the end there were 8 of us which was a fantastic number as everyone was talking to each other, and much better than a large crowd!  Perhaps I will do another walk with such intimate numbers again in the future after all...

Sarah Tyssen, the talented weaver of The Weaving House, helped the subject come alive as she set out two tables on Kings Road of old photographs, copies of The Vineyard, arts and crafts books containing photographs of the Haslemere Peasant Industries and even some homegrown grapes, all exhibited on top of her wonderful woven rugs.  Sarah's website is here.

Outside the Weaving House,
Haslemere Walking Festival 2015

It was also nice to admire the new Blue Plaque at Green Bushes, following it's unveiling two week's previous.   There is a write up of the plaque on the Haslemere Society website here.  I will have to share more details of the blue plaque in another post.

Blue Plaque unveiling,
Haslemere Herald, 18 September 2015

Green Bushes Weaving House,
Blue Plaque, awarded September 2015

Thank you to those who came along for the walk.  It was good talking to you all.

Walk leaflet, Haslemere Walking Festival 2015

Haslemere Walking Festival - Peasant Arts walk - Saturday 26th September

I am taking part in the first Haslemere Walking Festival which is taking place next weekend.  I am doing my Peasant Arts walk, which is around the outside (note: not the inside!) of the Haslemere Peasant Arts buildings on Kings Road, Foundry Lane and Longdene Road.

Haslemere Walking Festival 2015
brochure

I am not planning on doing any further Peasant Arts walks. I am all "walked out", so I am thinking that this is my last Peasant Arts walk.  It would be lovely to have some interested people to talk to about our interesting Peasant Arts heritage.

The vitals!

The booking form and e-mail details are available here.

The Weaving House, Kings Road
from The Craftsman, January 1902

Maude Egerton King's second grave stone and her neighbours

Thanks to a very helpful volunteer of St Bartholomew's Church, I have found a lot more out about Maude Egerton King's position in St Bartholomew's Cemetery following on from my previous post.   This included the very unexpected outcome that Maude's grave marker that I had found previously was not actually in the correct place, and that there was another gravestone for Maude hidden in the overgrowth nearby.

Maude Egerton King's grave, St Bartholomew's Cemetery,
Haslemere

Maude's wooden grave marker had been propped up against her brother, William Egerton Hine's gravestone at location S14.  However Maude's grave was actually one row in front of her brother, at T14.   It would appear that a new grave stone was erected when Maude and Joseph King's only child, Katharine King, died in 1976 and she was buried with her mother.

Maude Egerton King and Katharine King's grave,
St Bartholomew's Cemetery, Haslemere

Sadly the actual grave is so overgrown that the stone cannot be easily seen.  There is quite a crop blackberries.  

Maude Egerton King's grave, St Bartholomew's Cemetery,

Haslemere

Maude has a number of friends to keep her company in the cemetery:

Looking from Godfrey Blount's unmarked grave, to his
sister Mary Catherine Blount's grave and
beyond to Elizabeth Mary Hine and Gertrude Mary With's grave,
St Bartholomew's cemetery, Haslemere

• diagonally opposite her and next to Maude's brother William Egerton Hine and his wife Edith (at T14) is Phoebe MacDonald, the wife of Greville MacDonald (at T15).  Phoebe also died in 1927.  There is no marker on her grave.
• her sister Elizabeth Mary Hine is buried earlier in the cemetery at O10.  Elizabeth died in 1922 in Hambledon.  In probate she left "effects of £443 19s 11d of Green Bushes, Haslemere probate to Maude Egerton King".  Elizabeth shares the grave with her sister, Gertrude Mary With (nee Hine) who died in 1946 in Hampshire
• her brother-in-law Godfrey Blount is buried in an unmarked grave at sister Ethel Blount (nee Hine) is buried at M8, a few rows in front of Maude's sisters.  Here also lie the ashes of "Leslie 1958", I am not sure who that is?
• at N7, a plot directly opposite Elizabeth and Gertrude, lies Mary Catherine Blount (1853-1917?), Godfrey Blount's sister

Elizabeth Mary Hine and
Gertrude Mary With's
grave 



Mary Catherine Blount's grave

  

Arts and Crafts Movement in Surrey's Haslemere Study Day 15th July

I had a lovely Arts and Crafts day on Wednesday when the Arts and Crafts Movement in Surrey had a Haslemere Peasant Arts Study Day.

from The Arts & Crafts Movement in Surrey website 

from The Arts and Crafts Movement in Surrey website diary

We started off at St Christopher's Church, Haslemere's Arts and Crafts treasure chest, where Frankie Gaiter introduced us to the history and creation of St Christopher's.  Amongst many delights such as the woodwork of Charles Spooner, we saw the Arthur Romney Green altar chair and altar table.  We then walked over to Kings Road, Foundry Lane and Longdene Road to view the Peasant Arts buildings, which include the largest collection of Francis Troup houses in the country.  

Francis Frith postcard of St Christopher's Church c.1914

Back of St Christopher's Church postcard,
"How do you like this!  Splendid!! 1914"
sent to Longdene Road, Haslemere

We saw the former Woodworkers Hall (Arthur Romney Green's workshop and showroom) and Greenbushes Weaving House (Luther Hooper's weaving house) where the woodwork and silk and woollen hangings for St Christophers' Church had been made.  Sarah Tyssen from the Weaving House kindly let us walk around her pretty garden, complete with loom and weaving, and had laid out some old photographs and Peasant Art books.  

Some Haslemere Peasant Arts pieces from
The Haslemere Educational Museum's collection

After an incredibly large lunch offering at The Swan Inn we walked on to Haslemere Educational Museum where they had laid out some of their Haslemere Peasant Arts collection.  We had a short talk by the curator, Julia Tanner, who highlighted the museum's extensive European Peasant Arts collection.  To round off the day we had tea on the terrace of Kingwood, the former home of Joseph and Maude Egerton King, a beautiful Francis Troup designed country house.

It was a really enjoyable day and it was very nice to meet such a large collection of people who are all interested in the Arts and Crafts of our local area.  Thank you to The Arts and Crafts Movement in Surrey for including me in this special day.