Willy Lott's Cottage

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Willy Lott's Cottage Willy-Lotts-Cottage.jpg
Willy Lott's Cottage
Willy Lott's Cottage Willy Lott's Cottage.JPG
Willy Lott's Cottage

Willy Lott's Cottage is a house in Flatford, East Bergholt, Suffolk, England which appears in several paintings by John Constable, notably The Hay Wain .

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The property is Grade I listed, reflecting its importance "as part of the Flatford Mill group" and "its significance in the work of the artist John Constable". [1]

The earliest part of the building is sixteenth century. It was restored in the 1920s after a revival of interest in Constable's paintings. It has been renamed Willy Lott's House because that is the name Constable used in his paintings. It is owned by the National Trust. [2]

The cottage is located on the bank of the River Stour, just downstream from Flatford Mill in the heart of Dedham Vale, a typically English rural landscape. Flatford Mill, along with neighbouring Valley Farm and Bridge Cottage, are leased to the Field Studies Council, which uses them as locations for arts-based courses such as painting, and as accommodation for science-based courses such as residential ecology trips for students up to A-level.

'The Story of Willy Lott and his Cottage' has recently been written and published by Brian Lott, the gt-gt-gt-grandson of Willy's brother John Lott (1758-1827). It is a delightful read for art enthusiasts and history buffs interested in delving deeper into the history of Willy Lott and his family in Flatford, their connection to the cottage and the context behind Constable's paintings.

William Lott

The cottage takes its name from its resident at the time John Constable did his paintings, when the house was known as Gibeons Farm. William Lott (1761–1849), a tenant farmer, resided at Gibeons Farm and spent only four nights away from this house in the whole of his life. He is buried at St Mary the Virgin Churchyard in East Bergholt. [3]

According to a 2020 article, "Willy Lott himself became famous thanks to Constable, but only after his death". The cottage was purchased in 1926 by Thomas Parkington; after his death, the National Trust purchased it from his estate. [4]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Constable</span> English painter (1776–1837)

John Constable was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home – now known as "Constable Country" – which he invested with an intensity of affection. "I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821, "painting is but another word for feeling".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Stour, Suffolk</span> River in East Anglia, England

The River Stour is a major river in East Anglia, England. It is 47 miles (76 km) long and forms most of the county boundary between Suffolk to the north, and Essex to the south. It rises in eastern Cambridgeshire, passes to the east of Haverhill, through Cavendish, Sudbury, Bures, Nayland, Stratford St Mary and Dedham. It becomes tidal just before Manningtree in Essex and joins the North Sea at Harwich.

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East Bergholt is a village in the Babergh District of Suffolk, England, just north of the Essex border.

<i>The Hay Wain</i> Painting by John Constable

The Hay Wain – originally titled Landscape: Noon – is a painting by John Constable, completed in 1821, which depicts a rural scene on the River Stour between the English counties of Suffolk and Essex. It hangs in the National Gallery in London and is regarded as "Constable's most famous image" and one of the greatest and most popular English paintings.

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<i>The Cornfield</i> Painting by John Constable

The Cornfield is an oil painting by the English artist John Constable, completed from January to March 1826 in the artist’s studio. The painting shows a lane leading from East Bergholt toward Dedham, Essex, and depicts a young shepherd boy drinking from a pool in the heat of summer. The location is along Fen Lane, which the artist knew well. Constable referred to the piece as The Drinking Boy.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridge Cottage</span> Historic cottage in Flatford, Suffolk, England

Bridge Cottage is a 16th-century thatched cottage in Flatford, East Bergholt, Suffolk, England. It has been a National Trust property since 1943 and a Grade II* listed building since 1955. The National Trust market the property under the name "Flatford: Bridge Cottage". The building is timber framed, but this is not evident from the outside as it is rendered. The II* grading, unusual for an architecturally unremarkable cottage, "reflects the importance of the cottage as part of the Flatford Mill group and its significance in the work of John Constable".

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flatford Mill</span> Watermill in East Bergholt, United Kingdom

Flatford Mill is a Grade I listed watermill on the River Stour at Flatford in East Bergholt, Suffolk, England. According to the date-stone the mill was built in 1733, but some of the structure may be earlier. Attached to the mill is a 17th-century miller's cottage which is also Grade I listed. The property is in Dedham Vale, a typically English rural landscape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flatford</span> Human settlement in England

Flatford is a small hamlet in the civil parish of East Bergholt, in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is most famous for Flatford Mill, Willy Lott's Cottage and Bridge Cottage, immortalised in the paintings of John Constable.

Dodnash Priory was a small Augustinian priory located in Bentley, Suffolk, England, near the village's boundary with East Bergholt. It was situated close to Dodnash brook, which flows into the River Stour.

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<i>The Lock</i> (Constable) Painting by John Constable

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<i>The White Horse</i> (Constable) Painting by John Constable

The White Horse is an oil-on-canvas landscape painting by the English artist John Constable. It was completed in 1819 and is now in the Frick Collection in New York City.

<i>Stratford Mill</i> (Constable) Painting by John Constable

Stratford Mill is an 1820 oil on canvas painting by the British landscape artist John Constable. It is the second painting in the series of six-footers depicting working scenes on the River Stour, a series that includes The Hay Wain. The painting is now in the collection of the National Gallery in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bourton-on-the-Water model village</span> Scale model village in Gloucestershire, England

Bourton-on-the-Water model village is a scale model village in the grounds of the Old New Inn in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, England. One of the first model villages in the country, it was started in 1936 and completed in 1940. The model represents the core of Bourton-on-the-Water as it appeared in 1936 in 1:9 scale. The model village contains around 100 buildings. It is open to the public and includes exhibitions of other models on smaller scales.

Lott is a surname and given name.

References

  1. "Willy Lotts Cottage".
  2. "Flatford Mill - FSC Flatford Mill". Field-studies-council.org. 23 September 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  3. "William Lott (1761 - 1849) - Find A Grave Memorial". www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  4. "In Focus: The village and cottage featured in Constable's The Hay Wain, the ultimate image of English country life". Country Life. Retrieved 27 May 2020.

51°57′30″N1°1′19″E / 51.95833°N 1.02194°E / 51.95833; 1.02194