As winter arrived the weather is distinctly chilly. Charleston beckoned. It had been a few years since I had last visited before covid 19 and with my painting in need of a fresh angle, here was a refuge for the visual creative.
Charleston for one, has all this. In it’s heyday it also provided a remote, useful and secluded home for a daring and unconventional family living ‘in triangles’. Lovers of both sexes living with their husbands, wives, lovers of any sexual persuasion and children, altogether.
There is much to read on the ‘Bloomsbury set’ which began life in London: Bloomsbury, after flinging off every scrap of their repressive, dismal, Victorian upbringing. Beauty and truth was their philosophy.
Once the entire family had departed and moved away, the long rented house owned by Lord Gage of Firle Place nearby, was due for white washing in preparation for the next tenant. But at the eleventh hour, Charleston was saved for the public. Today it has been recreated and restored from the shabby worn down home it had become.
In 2021 the fairly simple yet classic design motifs, of circles, crosses and lines painted onto many surfaces, is a style that can be easily recreated at home for those who have the painterly hand and eye. Not every room is to my taste, some colours look very muddy, and would struggle to improve every style of home. However in a Victorian farmhouse with original sash windows, you can get away with a wide variety of schemes. For the first time I was able to photograph extensively the interiors which were a glory to behold. Shabby chic, domestic and reachable, nothing was too grand, yet the whole style struck one as bold and brave.
It was a sobering thought to imagine such a home was unheated with no hot water and no indoor loo. Life at Charleston must have had a considerably rough edge in winter. Relief arrived in the form of Clive Bell, whose personal fortune provided heated radiators for the first time. Such modern conveniences could still be regarded as novel for many in the 1920s. Bell wasn’t quite as much as a dandy as one might think, in spite of his gentlemanly appearance and lifestyle he worked as a conscientious objector on the land during the first world war.
At the front of the house is a large pond, which makes an imposing setting on arrival. This side of the house might have offered friends a place to sit out at a table to have meals in summer. At the back of the square garden, there is a modest but intensely planted area of kitchen garden, stuffed with sweet peas, beans and herbs and architectural artichokes. All lovely, but it does contrast sharply with the stark terrace paved area, which I felt could do with some more garden furniture.
The garden is equally artistic, ideally formulated on a fairly flat square, enclosed within attractive high walls, keeping any local wildlife out, with busts of heads dotted about the top. It is the ideal size to manage, it could have been less high maintenance if one wanted, but with a gardener on hand, why bother!
The hollyhocks were the stars this season (see below 2021), climbing about ten or eleven foot in the air, rich pinks and maroons. I’ve never had success with them, apparently they like dust and gritty bad soil, lots of sun with no love! Dahlias added a rich tone, rather narrow paths I felt, however this was punctuated by an attractive, very firm, wavy box hedge. I find this garden has gritty but punchy impact on the mind and memory, being smaller than Perch Hill, or Sissinghurst it really add a fiery zing to the day. A small walled garden is a really the best design I think.
Nevertheless it made a pleasant afternoon out and resulted in a few quick sketches, and more inspiration for painting. I wondered how many families today could live the philosophy of freedom and love in the Bloomsbury style. In spite of their privileged position, they still had a remarkable ability to live their theory of flexible, workable relationships of all kinds. Chawton House, made another refreshing day out.