Watercolour of the exterior of SS. Peter and Paul, Little Saling, by Kenneth Rowntree; from the Recording Britain Collection (Essex); England, ca. 1940.

A watercolour view of the exterior of the church of SS Peter and Paul, Little Saling, Essex, from the east. The fourteenth-century church rises out of an overgrown churchyard under a sunny sky. The round tower dominates the foreground, but it shows signs of neglect, with large patches of plaster flaked off. Signed.

Given by the Pilgrim Trust

Kenneth Rowntree painted the Church of SS Peter and Paul at Little Saling, Essex three times, but this is the only exterior view. The church, which dates from the fourteenth century, was then showing signs of decay, both inside and out, as can be seen here in the flaking plaster on the tower and the overgrown churchyard. Rowntree used an unusually narrow upright format for the SS Peter and Paul watercolours to echo the form and proportions of the church.

This work is from the ‘Recording Britain’ collection of topographical watercolours and drawings made in the early 1940s during the Second World War. In 1940 the Committee for the Employment of Artists in Wartime, part of the Ministry of Labour and National Service, launched a scheme to employ artists to record the home front in Britain, funded by a grant from the Pilgrim Trust. It ran until 1943 and some of the country’s finest watercolour painters, such as John Piper, Sir William Russell Flint and Rowland Hilder, were commissioned to make paintings and drawings of buildings, scenes, and places which captured a sense of national identity. Their subjects were typically English: market towns and villages, churches and country estates, rural landscapes and industries, rivers and wild places, monuments and ruins. Northern Ireland was not covered, only four Welsh counties were included, and a separate scheme ran in Scotland.

The scheme was known as ‘Recording the changing face of Britain’ and was established by Sir Kenneth Clark, then the director of the National Gallery. It ran alongside the official War Artists’ Scheme, which he also initiated. Clark was inspired by several motives: at the outbreak of war in 1939, there was a concern to document the British landscape in the face of the imminent threat of bomb damage, invasion, and loss caused by the operations of war. This was allied to an anxiety about changes to the landscape already underway, such as the rapid growth of cities, road building and housing developments, the decline of rural ways of life and industries, and new agricultural practices, which together contributed to the idea of a ‘vanishing Britain’. Clark also wanted to help artists, and the traditional forms of British art such as watercolour painting, to survive during the uncertain conditions of wartime. He in turn was inspired by America’s Federal Arts Project which was designed to give artists employment during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Over 1500 works were eventually produced by 97 artists, of whom 63 were specially commissioned. At the time the collection had a propaganda role, intended to boost national morale by celebrating Britain’s landscapes and heritage. Three exhibitions were held during the war at the National Gallery, and pictures from the collection were sent on touring exhibitions and to galleries all around the country. After the war, the whole collection was given to the V&A by the Pilgrim Trust in 1949, and it was documented in a four volume catalogue published between 1946 and 1949. For many years the majority of the collection was on loan to councils and record offices in each county, until recalled by the V&A around 1990. The pictures now form a memorial to the war effort, and a unique record of their time.

Historical significance: Ravilious and Bawden were largely responsible for reviving the art of watercolour painting in the 1930s, bringing to it a distinctive style with a strong emphasis on pattern and texture. On the evidence of his Recording Britain pictures, Rowntree was very much a part of this tendency.

At the time he painted this watercolour, Rowntree was living in the nearby village of Great Bardfield, which also numbered Eric Ravilious, Michael Rothenstein, and Edward Bawden among its residents. Although their individual styles differed dramatically, all were working on topographical subjects, primarily in watercolour.

With one exception, all of Kenneth Rowntree's Essex pictures for 'Recording Britain' were of churches and chapels, and the church of SS. Peter and Paul in Little Saling was particular favourite. This is the only exterior view he painted of the church. The unusually narrow format echoes the form and proportions of the fourteenth-century church with its round tower. He made no attempt to disguise the signs of neglect apparent in and around the church: large flakes of plaster have fallen from the tower, and the churchyard is overgrown.

At the time Rowntree painted this watercolour, he was living in the nearby village of Great Bardfield, which numbered among its residents the artists Michael Rothenstein, Eric Ravilious, and Edward Bawden. Ravilious and Bawden were largely responsible for the revival of watercolour painting in the 1930s, developing a fresh, distinctive style with an emphasis on pattern and decoration. On the evidence of his 'Recording Britain' pictures, Rowntree was very much a part of this tendency.

E.1411-1949