St Mary with St Leonard Broomfield: Thomas Huxley-Jones and Gwynneth Holt

Today, I gave a talk at Broomfield Parish Church about Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones and Gwynneth Holt, two of the Broomfield artists who, along with Rosemary Rutherford, created artworks for many churches in the area covered by the Diocese of Chelmsford in the twentieth century. 

Some of the works I included in the talk were the following:

Given the amount of work by the Broomfield artists within the area covered by the Diocese of Chelmsford, I suggested that it might be possible to create an art trail around the Diocese as a way to highlight their contribution to the churches of the Diocese. Such a trail would begin at Broomfield Parish Church with the artworks the, the graves of Rutherford, Huxley-Jones and Holt in the churchyard, and the wonderful Rutherford exhibition, but would then take those following the trail around the Diocese to demonstrate the importance to the churches of the Diocese of these three Broomfield artists.  

Broomfield in Essex became a village of artists following the arrival of Revd John Rutherford in 1930. His daughter, the artist Rosemary Rutherford, also moved with them and made the vicarage a base for her artwork including paintings and stained glass. Then, Gwynneth Holt and Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones moved to Broomfield in 1949 where they shared a large studio in their garden and both achieved high personal success. My poem 'Broomfield', part of my 'Five Trios' series, reviews their stories, work, legacy and motivations.

For more on the artists of Broomfield, all of whom are commemorated there with blue plaques, see here, here, here, here and here.

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Bono, The Edge & Friends - Invisible.