Inspired by Benton End

In Autumn 2024 I was lucky enough to become a student at a very special school of art, learning from both the history of the mentors that had been there before and working in a small group of 8 artists local to Benton End, just on the edge of Hadleigh, Suffolk - the former home of Sir Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett Haines, who ran the East Anglian School of Painting & Drawing there: a self-identified “oasis of decency for artists outside the system”, which counted Lucien Freud amongst it’s pupils and ran for 40 years.  
 

Benton End has an intoxicating atmosphere - and especially so at the moment as it sits empty, awaiting its new chapter.  Spending time there, it felt as if the pause between what was and what will be has given both the house and the garden a chance to share some of their secrets and stories with us.  I absolutely loved spending time there and working in the studio with other artists - knowing the history of the room - is an experience I will never forget.​

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Our group have met at the house a total of six times. Four times during the winter months prior to the exhibition - held at Hadleigh Old School in April 2025 - which successfully set out to show some of our work “Inspired by Benton End” and increase awareness of Benton End and the work to restore it.   We also visited twice in June 2025.  

 

It is such an honour to be part of the Benton End community and I learned so much from the opportunity to work alongside some much more experienced and established artists - just as others did when they attended the East Anglian School of Painting & Drawing under Cedric and Lett’s tutelage.  

 

It was also exciting to see work starting on the garden: paths being planned out and the "ghosts" in the garden - plants which have stayed since Cedric's days there - nurtured and noted as well as others being brought back and reestablished thanks to donations and research.  

 

I continue to follow progress closely and am looking forward to the garden opening this coming summer. Hopefully the visitors will help raise more funds for work on the house itself… the garden is going to be wonderful, but the house is the main event for me.  It is where I felt the spirit of Cedric and Lett most. 

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Talitha x

February 2026