Studio: international art (8.1896)

Maldon as a Sketching Ground

which still survives. It also has the advantage of
being within easy distance (less than forty miles)
from London, a little way off the Colchester line.
You must change at Witham, and as you pass
through, first Wickham and then Langford—the
two villages before you come to Maldon (the
terminus)—you would do well to look about you;
for in this direction lies the ground for landscap-
ists, because the town bridge may be considered
the dividing line between purely pastoral subjects
and those connected with a busy river. There are
in reality two rivers at Maldon, the Chelmer joining
the Blackwater by the timber yard, where the latter
branches off. The neighbourhood I have men-
tioned as affording ground for landscape work is
watered by the Chelmer, and there is also a canal
which runs into the Blackwater at Heybridge Basin
of which place more anon. All through this dis-
trict, especially around Beeleigh Abbey, about a
mile above Fullbridge, there are charming little
bits of pasture land and stream, and overhanging
willow, but, to speak frankly, I consider it a waste
of proffered wealth to spend one's time amongst
thern unless that time has little limitation. A river
like the Blackwater is too rare—and therefore too
valuable—to ignore.

In such an ancient town as " Maeldune in
Essexia " there are sure to be ancient buildings,
and for an explorer, not necessarily an antiquarian,
who carries a sketch book, there is plenty of fasci-
nating material. The churches are beautiful. St.
Peter's (not used now as a church) and All Saints'
with its unique triangular tower, stand near to each

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other, at the highest part of the town. But it is to
St. Mary's—the lower church—the one so con-
spicuous from the Hythe, I want to draw your
attention. It adds greatly to the making of the
finest view of Maldon. The Normans, who de
cided where it should be built, must have been
men of artistic taste, to say the least, judging from
its situation, and I suppose it may be taken for
granted that the lie of the land where the town
now stands and the trend of the river beneath
have altered little since those early times. If you
criticise the general view from Ben's Beach or the
Recreation Ground, you will notice the satisfactory
balance of line in stationary objects. But the
shipping, it is almost needless to say, must be in
correct position also, and when it is, the rest is
comparatively easy.

I spoke of Heybridge Basin. You should cer-
tainly go there. It is a walk of about three miles,
partly along the canal bank. This canal, for a mile
at least from the basin, is perfectly straight, and
on one side there is an avenue of bare stemmed
willows "with broom-like tops, giving it a very
foreign appearance. At the basin you will usually
find two or three vessels (exclusive of barges) just
inside the big lock gates : in the basin itself in
fact. The place is a queer unconventional sort of
riverside hamlet spoilt here and there by ugly
modern buildings. The river at high tide is about
a mile across, and the water effects are magnificent.
The flat coast line, too, with its embanked path
just above the edge of the beach is very paintable,
neither do I think you would find a dearth of figure