Artists
There were several famous landscape painters of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who drew and painted in Breinton.
Brian Hatton (1887-1916)
View the Gallery of Brian Hatton paintings (see: https://brianhatton.herefordshire.gov.uk/) to see what Breinton looked like in the 1900s, and how little the landscape has changed since then. Some of his paintings and possessions are held by Hereford Museum. See more details at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/galleries/collections/hereford-museum-and-art-gallery-637/foreword
Why not go and see some of the scenes Brian Hatton saw and painted for yourself? Views painted around 1908 as “The Lawns, Warham”, “The Wye Bank at Warham”, and “The Wye, Belmont Woods” are still easy to identify. This guided walk from Breinton Springs on the River Wye takes in the sites of at least 10 paintings: http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/features/walks/8860415.Garth_Lawson_s_monthly_walk__an_easy_five_miles_along_good_paths_inspired_by_the_county_artist_Brian_Hatton/
James Wathen (1751-1828)
He also painted near Warham House in Breinton, including a view from Breinton Springs towards Belmont, in March 1821. See more details in: “James Wathen’s Herefordshire 1770-1820: his sketches and paintings” by David Whitehead & Ron Shoesmith. 228 pages, over 90 colour illustrations. ISBN 978 1 873827 04 8
Landscape Designers
James Cranston of King’s Acre Nurseries, Kings Acre Road, was a noted garden designer in the 18th century. See: “Landscapes of the gentry” by David Whitehead, 2003.
Architects
St. Michael’s Church
The church was rebuilt and enlarged by F.R. Kempson between 1866 and 1870, with some input from James Cranston. Some former features were retained, such as the west door. In 1858 the incumbent was Rev. Edmund du Boisson, who lived at Breinton Court and built the rectory, Breinton Grange, and contributed to the building of the adjacent school for up to 40 children. A harmonium was installed and played for the first time by Lucy du Boisson in 1867. A new east window was installed in 1914 as a memorial to Edmund du Boisson and his wife Charlotte.
http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-154187-church-of-st-michael-breinton-
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=124885
https://herefordshirepast.co.uk/churches/st-michaels-church/
Warham House
This originated as a sixteenth century farmhouse that was enlarged in the seventeenth (early Georgian style, as drawn by the artist James Wathen, 1791), and nineteenth centuries. It was owned by the Booth family (related to Charles Booth, Bishop of Hereford, 1516-1535), the Elfe family around 1748, Mr. Vorse (1791), Mrs. Westfaling, and Francis Richard Haggitt after 1846. Francis Richard Haggitt became the heir of Dr. Richard Prosser who had built up the Belmont estate on the opposite side of the River Wye in 1849, on condition that he changed his name to Wegg-Prosser. He bought Warham House to be a home for his mother Lucy. It was probably Edward Pugin, son of the more famous A.W.N. Pugin, who remodelled the house to include the late gothic gables seen today. He was the architect for Belmont Abbey in 1859.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=124885
http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-154192-warham-court-breinton-
Warham House (written by David Whitehead, October 2011)
(Section compiled by Nichola Geeson, 2014)
