Valence House

Valence House was voted by the Guardian as one of the 50 best free things to do in London. The only surviving manor house in Dagenham, it dates back to Medieval times and is still partially surrounded by a moat. The site on which Valence House now stands was first recorded in a property deed in 1269. The house that stands today dates back at least to the 1400s.

The Valence House gallery traces the history of the house and surrounding land, and looks at many of the people who have lived there. It contains a model of the house in 1921, when it was still a family home. Following extensive refurbishment in 2010, exciting galleries tell the story of Barking and Dagenham and its people throughout the ages.

As well as exploring the museum, visitors can discover the tranquil herb garden and Dig for Victory plot, or research local and family history in the Archives and Local Studies Centre.

The Valence House grounds used to include the whole of what is now Valence Park. The moat was dug to encircle the house over 700 years ago! Along its banks are swamp cypresses, which glow a spectactular red in autumn. Between the moat and the house sits a spectacular veteran evergreen Holm Oak, judged to be one of the Great Trees of London.

Approaching the house, you can’t miss the tulip tree (Liriodendron). Its orange and yellow flower is the Valence House logo. A ginkgo biloba tree nestles close to the wall to the left of the door. An English Oak (Quercus robur) was planted nearby to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

Between Valence House and Valence Library is an ancient coppiced hazel. The remains of an ancient yew tunnel and holly trees shield the park and library from Becontree Avenue.

Valence House also offers a year-round programme of events for all the family. Visits can be rounded off by enjoying light refreshments in the Oasis Café and browsing the gift shop.

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Alisha's Attic - The Indispensibles.

Exploring Art Trails, Sabbatical Art Pilgrimage and the Guildhall Art Gallery rehang

I will be talking about the Art Trail for the Barking Episcopal Area to the Friends of Valence House on Tuesday 12th May at 3.00pm. The Art Trail was created for the Barking Episcopal Area by commission4mission and aims to raise awareness of the rich and diverse range of modern and contemporary arts and crafts from the last 100 years which can be found within the 36 featured churches. 

Valence House was voted by the Guardian as one of the 50 best free things to do in London. The only surviving manor house in Dagenham, it dates back to Medieval times and is still partially surrounded by a moat. Following extensive refurbishment in 2010, exciting galleries tell the story of Barking and Dagenham and its people throughout the ages.

I will also be giving a presentation on my sabbatical art pilgrimage to the Faith & Image group at St Mary’s South Woodford (207 High Road, South Woodford, London E18 2PA) on Saturday 30th May from 6.30pm. Over the three months that I spent on sabbatical in 2014 I enjoyed the opportunity to visit churches in Belgium, England, France and Switzerland to see works of modern and contemporary art. 

I saw exciting work by a wide range of significant twentieth century and contemporary artists including, among others, Jean Bazaine, Pierre Bonnard, Anthony Caro, Mark Cazalet, Marc Chagall, Brian Clarke, Le Corbusier, Stephen Cox, Maurice Denis, Eric Gill, Evie Hone, John Hutton, Roy de Maistre, Alfred Manessier, Henri Matisse, George Minne, Henry Moore,Tom Phillips, John Piper, Patrick Reyntiens, Georges Rouault, Albert Servaes, Gino Severini, Graham Sutherland and Bill Viola.

The commissions that I saw during this sabbatical tell a story of a continuing engagement by the Church with contemporary art from the Post-Impressionists to the present day. This engagement has often been contentious and contested but it has nevertheless been a continuing relationship involving both mainstream artists with a Christian faith and church commissions undertaken by mainstream artists who have not professed the faith. This story is not one which has been well told, either by the Church or the mainstream art world. There are many reasons for this on both sides but my concern in making this story the focus of his sabbatical has been to encourage the Church to tell and to value this story.

Reflecting the recent Guildhall Art Gallery re-hang, the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields and I will present a service series of musical discovery at St Stephen Walbrook (39 Walbrook, London EC4N 8BN) exploring themes of beauty, faith, home, imagination, leisure, love and work. Each Monday at 1.10pm a new theme will be explored through music: 15 June – Faith; 22 June – Home; 29 June – Love; 6 July – Work; 13 July – Imagination; 20 July – Leisure; 27th July – Beauty. As part of the service series, a guided tour of the Guildhall Art Gallery rehang will take place on 21 July at 1.10pm. Meet in the main entrance of Guildhall Art Gallery.

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St Martin-in-the-Fields - Great Sacred Music: George Herbert.

Fyffe Christie

Painter, draughtsman, muralist and teacher, Fyffe Christie  was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, son of a commercial artist and illustrator, George Christie. From the age of 12 Christie lived in Glasgow, from 1934 working in a solicitor's office, then became an apprentice lithographic draughtsman and during World War II served in the Scottish Rifles, resulting work finding its way into the Imperial War Museum.

Christie studied at Glasgow School of Art, 1946-50, mural painting under Walter Pritchard. He gained the Newberry Medal in 1950 and a post-diploma year's study. After a period teaching and a six-month travelling scholarship taken on the continent Christie resumed teaching and completed many murals, including Glasgow University and the Iona Community House. With his wife Eleanor, a sculptor, he moved to London in 1957 and again taught, while completing murals and much other work. 

Christie and his wife held a show at Woodlands Gallery in 1979, shortly before he died. This showed him to be a painter with a rich palette, notable for his female nude studies, as well as a consummate draughtsman. His widow did much to promote Christie's work after his death. There were exhibitions at Cyril Gerber Fine Art, Glasgow, and Fairhurst Gallery in 1988, preceded by a show of his drawings at Glasgow School of Art. He was included in Children & Childhood at the City Art Centre, Edinburgh, in 1989; there was a large show of his schoolchildren drawings at the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, 1991; and further small exhibitions at Blackheath Concert Halls and in Norwich. In 2004, there was an exhibition at Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire, accompanied by a monograph, Nature and Humanity, The Work of Fyffe Christie 1918-1979, published by Sansom & Company Ltd.

Christie's mural at St Margaret Stanford Rivers features in the Art Trail for the Barking Episcopal Area. I will be talking about the Art Trail to the Friends of Valence House on Tuesday 12th May at 3.00pm. All are welcome.

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Bruce Springsteen - When The Saints Go Marching In.

Art Trail and St John's Seven Kings

Today I gave a group from the Friends of Valence House a tour of the artwork at St John's Seven Kings. On the tour they saw our windows from the Kempe and Whitefriars Studios as well as work by Louis B. Davis, Derek Hunt, Viki Isherwood-Metzler and Sergiy Shkanov.

The group's leader said, "I would like to thank you for conducting a tour round St John's Church this afternoon for us. I know that all those who came had a most enjoyable afternoon and we learnt a lot; we all appreciated the time and effort you put in to it - many thanks. We look forward to seeing you again in May and hearing your talk."

The group made contact with us as a result of exploring the Art Trail for the Barking Episcopal Area and the talk that I am scheduled to give to them in May is about that Trail.

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U2 - Every Breaking Wave.

Art talks and meetings

On Sunday I will be hosting a meeting of Arts+UK at St John's Seven Kings. Beat Rink, who heads up Arts+Switzerland will be guest speaker and will share how Arts+Switzerland has been established, giving insights and ideas for Arts+UK. Beat also heads up Crescendo International, an organisation for Christian musicians aiming at a professional career in the arts.

On Wednesday the Friends of Valence House will be visiting St John's to see our artworks including work by Louis B. Davis, Derek Hunt, Viki Isherwood-Metzler and Sergiy Shkanov as well as stained glass from the Kempe and Whitefriars Studios. The group are in the process of visiting each of the churches on the Art Trail for the Barking Episcopal Area.

This Art Trail was created for the Barking Episcopal Area by commission4mission and on Thursday 8th May I will be speaking about the work of commission4mission at the Spring Gathering of the Arts Centre Group, 7 – 9.30pm, Café Eterno, 34 Neal Street , Covent Garden. commission4mission encourages churches to commission contemporary art while the Arts Centre Group brings together Christians who are working professionally in the field of the arts.

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Ike Sturm - Stillness.

Valence House

Yesterday I visited Valence House, the only surviving manor house in Dagenham, for the first in several years. Valence House is home to Barking and Dagenham's local history museum. It reopened in June 2010 after a major refurbishment. The house, which dates back to Medieval times and is still partially surrounded by a moat, has been repaired and redecorated, and has exciting new displays which tell the story of Barking and Dagenham and its people throughout the ages (including lots about Barking Abbey).

I was particularly pleased to see that there are displays highlighting the many well-known people - two England Managers, an Archbishop of Canterbury, a Royal Academician, entertainers, singers, sportspeople, novelists and more - who have come from or lived in the borough, together with artefacts relating to them. This was a particular pleasure because featuring such folk was a suggestion which I made to the Council while in the borough.

After touring the museum, you can relax in the tranquil surroundings of the herb garden. The creation of this garden was part of environmental improvements aimed at enhancing the attractions in the grounds. The layout follows plans produced by historic gardens consultant Virginia Nightingale. The central feature is a green pergola, surrounded by formal beds of roses and herbs. Towards the edge of the area are less formal features such as a sculpture garden and a refreshments patio.

Visits can be rounded by taking refreshments in the Oasis Cafe and browsing the gift shop (both located in the new Visitor Centre). Barking and Dagenham Archives and Local Studies Centre also reopened in July 2010 in spacious new premises in the Valence House Visitor Centre.

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Billy Bragg - A13 (Trunk Road To The Sea).