C O N T E X T 1 0 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8 31 IHBC Annual School 2008 IHBC Annual School 2008 IHBC Annual School 2008 Compton through friends Andrew and May Hichens who lived in the village at Monkshatch. In 1890Watts’ health was beginning to suffer from the cold winters, and the smog and pollution of the metropolis. At the instigation of their friends,Watts and his devoted second wife Mary stayed at Monkshatch over that winter to see if the Surrey climate would aid his health. The winter months passed well for them and the idea that they should have their own ‘cottage’ emerged. Mary seems to have been the driving force behind this. A piece of land was purchased from the squire of Loseley and Ernest George was asked to draw up some plans.The house was begun in April the following year. They decided to call it Limnerslease, limner being the old English word for painter and lease being from the old English word leasen, which meant to glean: ‘our hope being that there were golden years to be gleaned in this new home,’ as Mary wrote.To them it was their country cottage; to us today it is an enormous mockTudor house which now quite comfortably provides three private dwellings. Grade II listed, the house can be seen perched on the hillside from the grounds of theWatts Gallery. Watts Cemetery Chapel MaryWatts was a keen supporter of the Home Arts and Industries Association, founded in the mid 1880s, dedicated to the revival of village handicrafts and providing skilled work for the rural poor. She set up a pottery industry using clay beds in the grounds of Limnerslease.When in 1895 the parish council purchased a new plot of land for village burials, theWatts enthusiastically offered the village the gift of a new mortuary chapel. Designed by MaryWatts and decorated under her direction using unskilled villagers as labourers and craftsmen, the Grade l listed chapel is a remarkable feat. A kiln was established in the grounds of Limnerlease for the production of the terracotta tiles that decorate the exterior. The chapel was dedicated in 1898 but the interior was not decorated until 1901, again under MaryWatts’ direction, using unskilled labour. During the 1990s a wide-ranging repair programme was carried out for both the interior and exterior of the chapel and parts of the graveyard, including the cloisters where Watts is buried. This was instigated by the parish council, which is responsible for the upkeep. The borough council provided extensive support and achieved Heritage Lottery funding, working with Surrey County Council and English Heritage. A pottery, also established by MaryWatts to support local craft skills, is now used as shops/studios at the entrance to the gallery car park. For those who remember, the ‘intermission’ film used on BBC television in the 1950s and early 60s was of a potter’s hands at his wheel. This was filmed at the Watts pottery. Watts Gallery MaryWatts continued her enterprising pottery business, founding the Compton Potters Art Guild in 1902.The success of the business meant accommodation was needed for her young workers. This led to a project dear to her heart: the creation of a purpose-built gallery within view of Limnerslease to her husband’s paintings, with a hostel attached for her young potters. The architect was a local man, Christopher Hatton Turnor, an admirer of Lutyens and Voysey, and reportedly a friend of Thomas Edison, founder of the Edison Portland Cement Company. An enthusiast for cement, then a new material, Turnor designed the rendered concrete building around a central courtyard flanked by double-arched porches. Built in 1903-4, the gallery is a long, low building that enjoys many arts and crafts flourishes. It is top lit to honour Watts’ insistence that his work be viewed under natural light. Watts died in July 1904, just two months after the completion of the initial gallery. After his death, Mary TheWatts Gallery: the painter insisted that his work be viewed under natural light. (Photo:Watts Gallery) Watts Chapel (Photo: Graham Foster)
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