|
"I associate my careless boyhood to all that lies on the banks of the Stour" wrote John Constable , who was born the son of a miller in EAST BERGHOLT , nine miles northeast of Colchester in 1776. The house in which he was born has long since disappeared, so it has been left to Flatford Mill , a mile or so to the south, to take up the painter's cause. The mill was owned by his father and was where Constable painted his most famous canvas, The Hay Wain (now in the National Gallery, London), which created a sensation when it was exhibited in 1824. To the chagrin of many of his contemporaries, Constable turned away from the landscape-painting conventions of the day, rendering his scenery with a realistic directness that harked back to the Dutch landscape painters of the seventeenth century. Typically, he justified this approach in unpretentious terms, observing that, after all "no two days are alike, nor even two hours; neither were there ever two leaves of a tree alike since the creation of the world." The mill itself - not the one he painted, but a Victorian replacement - is not open to the public, but the sixteenth-century thatched Bridge Cottage (March & April Wed-Sun 11am-5.30pm; May-Sept daily 10am-5.30pm; Oct daily 11am-5.30pm; Nov & Dec Wed-Sun 11am-3.30pm; Jan & Feb Sat & Sun 11am-3.30pm; free, but parking GBP1.90; NT), which overlooks the scene, has been painstakingly restored and stuffed full of Constabilia. Unfortunately, none of Constable's paintings are displayed here, though the adjacent granary contains mezzotints of the artist's works and there's a pleasant riverside tearoom to take in the view. Beyond stands Willy Lott's Cottage (also closed to the public), which does actually feature in The Hay Wain . In summer, the National Trust organizes guided walks around the sites of Constable's paintings (call 01206/298260 for details), but there are many other pleasant walks to be had along this deeply rural bend in the Stour. One footpath connects the mill to the train station at Manningtree, two miles to the east, and another runs over to the village of Dedham, a mile and a half to the west.
Your Tip for East Bergholt
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to East Bergholt - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to East Bergholt - visit the main East Bergholt forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the East Bergholt webguide section below! Thanks.
|
