Shifting Perspectives
Above: Open-plan interior with kitchen and mezzanine
Above: Teresa and her Weimaraner, Luca
Above: Teresa's studio overlooking the garden
Above: ...more of her studio
Above: Teresa's open-plan kitchen adjoining the sitting room
Above: An old B&W photo of The Old Guildhall
Above: ...and as it is today
Above: The gallaried landing on the mezzanine...
At the heart of the ancient borough of Corfe in Purbeck are the famous ruined castle and charming stone-built village which bear its name. Both share a long and fascinating history. The village rose to prominence in the 13th century when it became an important centre of the Purbeck stone industry where many quarrymen lived. These ‘Purbeck marblers’, as they were known, formed themselves into a guild which still meets annually on Shrove Tuesday at the tiny 18th-century Town Hall in West Street.
Not surprisingly, the village’s oldest buildings are built of local stone, and a number of properties along East Street, the busy and narrow main road linking Wareham to Swanage, date from the late-16th and early-7th centuries. Particularly notable amongst these is Mortons House which was built c1600 in the form of an early-Elizabethan manor house for the Dacombe family and is now a hotel and restaurant.
Adjoining the present boundary wall of Mortons House Hotel stands an attractive row of cottages, the first of which is named The Old Guildhall. Poole-born Teresa Lawton, an acclaimed full-time artist who has exhibited at the Royal Academy, has lived in the 400-year-old cottage since 2005 and her studio is now based there.
Behind the cottage’s venerable façade is a strikingly modern, cleverly-devised open-plan interior courtesy of two major programmes of renovation and modernisation carried out in the 1970s and 1980s. As well as plenty of wall space on which to display her paintings, there is a remarkably large floor-to-ceiling glass window on the ground floor which looks out onto the split-level walled garden and allows lots of soft, northern light to enter Teresa’s studio area.
The Old Guildhall, though, is something of an enigma, and its name is probably fanciful as there is no evidence to suggest it might have ever served this purpose. However, the mother of one local resident remembers it being used as a NAAFI canteen during the Second World War and that tea dances were held there! Earlier in its life, the cottage was gutted to form a garage for Mortons House and an old black-and-white photograph, possibly of the late-Victorian era, corroborates this by showing two heavy wooden doors at the front of the property. At some stage, too, all the door and window openings on the ground floor were filled in with local stone, which is how the cottage remains today save for the more recent addition of a small stone porch.
The interior also provides few clues to its early history as much of the exposed stonework has been repointed or altered. The large, north-facing window in the rear wall is directly in line with the former location of the garage doors at the front of the cottage and is of similar size, which suggests that there might previously have been another pair of doors here so that vehicles could drive straight through. The stone-flagged floor at this end of the building is original and makes an attractive feature in Teresa’s studio area.
During the modernisation of the cottage a mezzanine floor with two bedrooms and a spacious galleried landing was added and the exposed ceiling timbers clad with pine. To support it, sturdy stone piers were built out from the original stone walls. A raised floor in the central living area was also added. Stepping down from this to the old floor level leads to a modern, open-plan kitchen and a small adjoining sitting room for everyday use. When Teresa wants to hold dinner parties, the raised central living area provides more useable space.
The two bedrooms on the mezzanine floor are at opposite ends of the galleried landing and each embodies a large, circular porthole window fitted with a blue fabric blind for privacy. Space-saving sliding doors provide access and, as they slide so easily, do not require handles!
An iron-railed staircase leads out of the cottage from the first-floor gallery to the upper terrace of the stone-flagged, walled garden. Centre stage in this totally secluded and sheltered spot is a low-walled bed containing various colourful mature shrubs and a few exotic sun-loving species which include a yucca and two large palms that Teresa was told had to be lowered into the garden by crane! It would be hard to find a more idyllic and inspirational setting for an artist’s studio.
For Teresa, painting is her life and she has been successfully exhibiting for 14 years after graduating from Winchester College of Art in 1994. Her paintings are undeniably abstract, which she feels must speak for themselves. Displayed in The Old Guildhall, with its wonderful space and light, they have a strength and calm which make an impressive statement and shows a sympathetic union of old and new which proves a point that the two can mix. Influenced by the modern painters of St Ives in Cornwall where she spent much time and was inspired by the dramatic coastline, Teresa now exhibits throughout the year at The Belgrave Gallery in St Ives alongside revered abstract artists such as Ben Nicholson, Roger Hilton and William Scott.
Although Cornwall has been an influence there is no doubt that her heart is in Dorset where she was born and bred. ‘Being so familiar with my surroundings is a key component in the way my work develops,’ Teresa admits. ‘I have a great affection for this county, it’s in my bones. I walk the countryside every day with my dog Luca. I soak it up and it pours into my work. My association with Purbeck comes from childhood days of working holidays and weekends at the local stables in Studland. After graduating, I decided that when my son left home I would move to Purbeck. I brought my son up in Poole. He is now an actor in London and has just finished a four month tour of Europe in Susan Hill’s play The Woman in Black. As soon as he went off to acting school I headed for the Purbeck hills and lived in Studland for a year until I found a small cottage near Ower Quay which was remote and very beautiful. But in the end I needed more studio space.
‘The Old Guildhall had everything I required with its enormous north-facing window and lots of space in which to display my paintings. It was love at first sight: an artist’s dream house! Corfe is a lovely village to live in; there is such a close community here and I have been made to feel very welcome.’
Location: Corfe Castle, Purbeck, South Dorset.
Built: Late-16th/early-17th century.
Accommodation: Ground floor: open-plan central living area combining studio, kitchen and sitting room, bathroom. Mezzanine floor: two bedrooms, galleried landing with office area.
Teresa’s paintings can be viewed on her website at www.teresalawton.co.uk
For more information and to receive invites to her forthcoming exhibitions
email: art@teresalawton.co.uk