• Heritage

    Lost houses of England

    We were so interested to read all your comments on our post about Sutton Scarsdale. It’s clear that these derelict or lost houses of England draw passionate interest from many and have left an indelible mark on our national consciousness. Our family has connections with the lost Rushbrooke Hall in Suffolk. It was a beautiful Tudor building laid out in the shape of an E. My Grandfather once stayed there for a night whilst researching its history. The…

  • Art

    Observations: The Mary Beale Collection

    We were so excited about this exhibition that we visited it as soon as the doors opened! It is only in recent years that the appreciation of Mary Beale and her artwork has increased. This year, the art world was sent into a frenzy when a sleeper portrait of her son, Bartholomew, appeared at a Colchester Auction House as Italian School. It eventually sold for £100,000 and in doing so, demonstrated how the appeal of Beale’s portraits is…