Finally got around to visiting Valentines Mansion this afternoon. Located in the beautiful setting of Valentines Park, near Gants Hill, the Mansion was completely restored between July 2007 and November 2008. The London Borough of Redbridge and the Heritage Lottery Fund financed this work.
Valentines Mansion was built in about 1696. It is considered by English Heritage to be "of outstanding architectural or historic interest or of great importance to the nation's built heritage" and is Grade II listed. Not a grand building, but a family home for a gentleman of high status. The listing is because it is one of very few surviving rural homes of London businessmen of the 18th century and makes it one of the top 8% of listed buildings in England.
In parallel with the restoration work on the Mansion, the surrounding parkland and gardens have been extensively restored. The results of this park and garden restoration are absolutely stunning and complement the work on the Mansion. There are walled gardens, ponds and lakes, rococo grottos, a dovecote and a well, a rose garden and walks.
The Mansion features period rooms, an exhibition gallery and displays on the history of the Mansion and its estate. School children can role-play life 'upstairs & downstairs', using the reconstructed Victorian kitchen and dairy as part of an exciting new education programme. There is a well-equipped family room devoted to activities for younger children. Artists and craftspeople now occupy studios on the top floor, and showcase their work.
The current exhibition, in the Bird Room and Gallery, features works by the nine local artists and craftspeople who lease the studios on the top floor of the mansion. The six contemporary studios, created following the mansion’s refurbishment, are used to produce a variety of arts and crafts, including paintings, stained glass, pottery, ceramics, sculpture and new media.
Featured artists include Anne Eggebert who specialises in site-specific works and has made a new work 'At a Distance; dawn chorus'. This piece is inspired by the Mansion's Bird Room and an ongoing collaboration with Canadian artist Fae Logie.
Trudy Staines, a ceramic artist, has also used the mansion as inspiration in her new work, 'Stag Beetle Lacanus Cervus', which pulls ideas from her own garden, the mansion garden and technology bringing together mechanical components, ceramics and natural forms to create a piece that will interest visitors of all ages.
Sarah Partridge’s work features an estimated 5000 individually cut pieces to form an interpretation of micro mosaic, using iridised glass and porcelain, capturing the flight and spirit of dragonflies.
Jason Rose’s piece, ‘The Gift’ has the theme of growing up and things left behind from childhood. Jason said, “Working at my studio has been very inspirational due to many things: the gorgeous view out of the window; my gifted and inspiring fellow artists; the evocative feeling of history that the entire building is imbued with; the helpful and friendly mansion staff; the chocolate chip cookies from the mansion cafe, and many more things. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to exhibit my piece alongside the others artists at the mansion.”
Other pieces include a stained glass light box and a gigantic mixed media Green Man. The exhibition follows successful open studio days which have seen many visitors taking the opportunity to browse the workshops and meet the artists. The exhibition will run until Sunday 14 February 2010.
Valentines Mansion is open to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10am to 5pm and Sundays from 11am to 4pm throughout the year. Entry to the mansion is free.
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Michael McDermott - Great American Novel.
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