Former artists' home aiming to reopen to public

The former home and gardens of two celebrated artists could open once again to the public following restoration.

The Garden Museum, based in London, has received more than £294,200 in funding to restore and renew Benton End House and Gardens in Hadleigh, Suffolk.

The Tudor manor was home to artist and gardener Sir Cedric Morris and his lifelong partner and fellow artist Arthur Lett-Haines where they both set up the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing.

Charles Spicer, chair of the Benton End Board and trustee of the Garden Museum, said he was "delighted" by the funding that would help toward a reopening next year.

The funding has been given by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and will allow for the first phase of development work including surveys and investigations of the roof and fabric of the building.

Morris (1889-1982) and Lett-Haines (1894-1978) originally opened up the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in Dedham, Essex, in 1937 before a fire at that property led to the move to Benton End in 1939.

Pupils included Lucian Freud, Maggi Hambling and Joan Warburton.

In 2021, the property was majorly gifted to the Garden Museum by Bridget and Rob Pinchbeck, of the Pinchbeck Charitable Trust, after almost 40 years of private ownership by four successive families.

The Pinchbecks were keen to see the property revived and opened as a place of learning, art and horticulture once again.

The Garden Museum said without the recent grant it was "likely" the house would have been put back up for sale and fall into private ownership once again.

"We are delighted and honoured that the National Lottery Heritage Fund has chosen to support our ambitious plans to restore and revive Benton End as a vital centre of art, horticulture, food and learning in the heart of historic Suffolk," Mr Spicer said.

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