Artist’s Suffolk home, Benton End, to become a centre of art and gardening
Benton End, the former home of Cedric Morris (1889-1982), is to be revived with the house and garden becoming a gardening, art and creativity centre.
The Pinchbeck Charitable Trust (PCT) acquired Benton End and has transferred ownership of the house, a private home since Morris’ death in 1982, to the Garden Museum. In 1940, artist/gardener Cedric Morris and his partner, artist Arthur Lett Haines, bought the 16th-century manor house in Suffolk. There, they established the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing. This became a sanctuary for influential artists, writers, musicians, and botanists.
Morris made a garden as influential in its day as Sissinghurst for its irises. It was one of the first naturalistic designs, developed for the study of the unusual plants Morris chose. The revived Benton End will aim to inspire artists and gardeners and to encourage freedom of invention, enthusiasm, and enjoyment.
Home of Cedric Morris – ownership
Rob and Bridget Pinchbeck discovered that Benton End was for sale and bought it through the PCT in 2018. Now owned by the Garden Museum, the site will be leased to a new subsidiary charity, the Benton End House and Garden Trust. This will combine trustees from Suffolk, the Garden Museum and the world of Cedric Morris, including gallerist Phillip Mould, garden designer Arne Maynard and Bridget Pinchbeck.
Bridget said: “The aim is for Benton End to be a place of inclusivity and enthusiasm. It was Ronald Blythe who best summed up the experience of Benton End. He wrote, ‘The atmosphere was one of intellectual freedom. It was Bohemian in the best sense… The whole atmosphere was exciting and liberating…’, adding that, ‘The greatest crime at Benton End was to be boring!’”
In 2015, former Sissinghurst head gardener Sarah Cooke’s display of Benton End irises was a hit at RHS Chelsea. The art world followed in 2018 with two exhibitions in London. Firstly, Cedric Morris: Artist-Plantsman at the Garden Museum and Cedric Morris: Beyond the Garden Wall at Philip Mould & Co. Gallery.
Work on renewing Morris’ garden will start next year. Redeveloping the home of Cedric Morris will be a longer-term project. The aim is to restore Benton End’s post-war bohemian glamour. Building work planned includes an exhibition gallery, learning spaces dedicated to the art of the garden, plus accessibility.
Home of Cedric Morris – support for other charities
The PCT’s only request is that a consideration of £350,000 towards its value is made in 2024 so it can replenish support for other charities.
Garden Museum Director Christopher Woodward said: “The trust will be a hybrid of the Garden Museum and the heritage of Benton End and its neighbourhood. It will not be a museum, but once again a house where things happen.”
The next step is to recruit a project director, with a varied and dynamic learning programme, inspired by the interests of Morris, Haines and their circle. Benton End was unique in being an art school in a garden as well as having an important role in LGBTQ+ history.
Visitors often found there included:
- Artist John Nash
- Florist Constance Spry
- Gardener Vita Sackville-West
- Cookery writer Elizabeth David
- Writer Ronald Blythe
- Illustrator Kathleen Hale
- Composer Benjamin Britten and his partner Peter Pears
- An early pupil was Lucian Freud at 17, whose work will be shown in a Garden Museum exhibition next year.
There are plans for creative residencies at Benton End. The only criterion will be a connection to the life, work, and interests of Morris and Haines.
