Watts Gallery Artists Village

 Art, sculpture and tea shop treats 

About 3 miles west of Guildford is an artists village, once the home and studio of George Frederic Watts, a Victorian era artist and sculptor, and his wife, potter and designer Mary Watts. Here you can find the Watts Gallery, the Foyle pottery studio, an Artist in Residence studio, the Watts Contemporary Gallery, an Arts and Crafts house where they lived, and the amazing Watts Chapel. Plus there is a tea shop that serves excellent rarebits!

You can tell it is a special place when you turn down the lane to find road signs on wooden artists' paint brushes!

Artists' paint brush road sign

Very friendly staff served teas and treats from the Tea Shop, the mushroom and tomato rarebit I had was enough for the hungriest of visitors and came with a decent side salad.

The Historic Galleries showcase the art of G.F. Watts from his early works to later huge sculptures showing the evolution of his 70 year career. Other artists are on display in temporary exhibitions.  

We discovered the De Morgan Collection exhibition, "Decoration or Devotion". Evelyn De Morgan was a Spiritualist artist who used symbols in her paintings to present her unique spiritual agenda. This was at odds with her husband’s interest purely in the decorative properties of Middle Eastern design which he used in his pottery which is also in the exhibition.

The current temporary exhibition is Pre-Raphaelite Treasures: Drawings and Watercolours from the Ashmolean Museum, which continues until 12th June 2022. I loved seeing the artist's sketches made in preparation for some of their famous pieces, especially those by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

One of my favourite paintings in the Historic Galleries is After the Deluge, shown below.

After the Deluge by G F Watts

After exploring the galleries and the gift shop our next stop was across the lane to Limnerlease, the Arts and Crafts home of the Watts and where Mary Watts taught pottery classes to local villagers who worked with Mary to create the chapel.

Victorian wall lights in Limnerlease

There are woodlands to meander through and if you head further down the lane you find the Watts Chapel. Distinctive from the outside it is breathtaking from the inside and is recognised as one of the most original and fascinating buildings in Britain, a fusion of art nouveau, Celtic, Romanesque and individual style. The detail of the gesso work and the glorious colours make an amazing sight. I was completely captivated.

Watts Chapel

Above the entrance to the chapel

Here are some images from the inside of the chapel, I'm sure you'll agree it is really something special. All the plasterwork inside was done by Mary Watts herself together with the local villagers who learned these skills through attending Mary's classes.

Open the door to a magical space

Wall and ceiling details

Rich colours glowing in the sunlight

Panorama of the Watts Chapel

Many of the headstones in the small graveyard around the chapel are also decorated in a similar style to the chapel and it is in a beautiful and serene location, perfect for a few moments of contemplation.

Watts Chapel