A very beautiful exhibition of hands at Tristan Hoare’s Gallery – a big, sunlit room on the first floor of 6, Fitzroy Square:-

There are several pieces by Romilly which have been taking shape over recent months:-

Gertrude Jekyll was trained as an artist – presumably a fine artist – at the National School of Art in South Kensington – what became the Royal College of Art.  She could obviously turn her hand to anything, including tiles:-

Ornament set into the door into her workroom:-

And a floor in a shed in the garden:-

The upstairs long gallery is lined with cupboards which were full of her collection of textiles, many of which she gave to the V&A including a moth-eaten, Italian peasant cap.

A damp expedition to Munstead Wood, the house which Lutyens designed for Gertrude Jekyll between 1895, following the death of her mother, and 1897, when she moved in.

The exterior of the house is extremely well preserved, as are the surroundings, including 11 acres of woodland to the south.

This is the house from the west:-

And from the south-west:-

The north view of the wing which held her workshop:-

And the internal courtyard on the north front:-

After Jekyll died in 1932, it was inherited by her nephew, Francis Jekyll, who wrote her biography.  It was sold in 1948, but was acquired in 1968 by Sir Robert and Lady Clark who looked after it well, restoring part of Jekyll’s garden, following its original planting.  Then it was acquired by the National Trust in June 2023 by private treaty sale.

Now the question is what to do in terms of public access.  It’s obviously far from straightforward as it’s approached down a rough, muddy lane.

It’s highly atmospheric – a monument to Jekyll’s very various creativity, quite apart from her contribution to the history of gardening:-

I went to the new Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration yesterday, an impressive new set-up in the old buildings of the New River Water Company in Islington.  Opens Friday.

The buildings are hard to photograph and maybe more impressive inside than out:-

Walking down to Farringdon, I got an unexpected view of St. Paul’s:-