John Constable - Famous Men and Women of Suffolk No1 in a Series.

Way back in 2005 on this blog I ran a short series promoting the most famous men and women from Suffolk, England which is my home. I thought it was time to  re visit this series starting with those famous men and women I originally added and then look to add more  names.

Though this has little to do with running I hope it will serve to  broaden the knowledge of any interested readers in the people and the county where I run. After all it is Running in Suffolk.

My series began originally  with perhaps the famous of all Suffolk folk - John Constable. I have repeated  it below with some updating.


John Constable 1776-1837.

1st Day Cover

East Bergholt in Suffolk is the home of John Constable, the world famous romantic landscape artist.

It must have been a combination of the big Suffolk skies, the winding lanes and thatched houses that gave Constable the inspiration to paint. John Constable was born in 1776, his father was a wealthy miller who owned water mills at Flatford Mill and Dedham. He must have been a bit of a disappointment to his father who perhaps wanted him to follow in his footsteps and for a short while he did work at one of the water mills but it seems he was easily sidetracked and would end up sketching.

Constable was admitted to the Royal Academy in 1799.  However he was often  dreadfully homesick for Suffolk.
Like many artists Constable wasn't particularly successful during his lifetime,his picture of the Haywain received acclaim in France but he wasn't that popular in England. It is said that during his lifetime he only sold twenty paintings in England.

"I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821.

John Constable spent a short period at a boarding school in Lavenham Suffolk

Constable wasn’t seen as a suitable match for  Maria Bicknell. Her parents believing she would be marrying below her station . It was only after John's father Golding Constable died in 1816 that they married later that year. None of Maria's family attended the wedding. After 12 years of marriage and 7 children Maria died from pulmonary tuberculosis . Constable was heartbroken and is quoted as saying 'I shall never feel again as I have felt, the face of the world is totally changed for me'.
 
Constable died on March 31, 1837, and is buried in the churchyard of St John’s, Hampstead.
 
Constable once said “No two days are alike, nor even two hours; neither were there ever two leaves of a tree alike since the creation of the world. The sound of water escaping from mill dams, willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts and brickwork, I love such things. These scenes made me a painter.”

Today thousands of people descend upon East Bergholt which struggles at times to receive the volumes of tourists.

Nayland Suffolk

4.40pm 6 miles in 48 minutes

Week to date mileage 6

Month to date mileage 72

Average weekly rate 31.5

Average Monthly rate 137

Year to Date 612

Life time 8390

Tonight I stopped at the village of Nayland in Suffolk which is just 5 miles from Colchester on the border of Essex. Driving from Colchester out on the A134 when you cross the River Stour you know you are in Suffolk. if you immeadiately turn right you arrive in the centre of Nayland.

I parked immeadiately and ran into the village which I don't think I have visited before but looks well worth returning to. Some beautiful houses many dating back to the early 17th century and the reign of James 1st. The White Hart Inn is a 16th century pub which became a coachinghouse and more recently is now owned by Michel Roux and is a restaurant.

The village reminds a lot of Bures. After running around the village I decided to follow the Stour Valley Path from Nags Farm which entailed crossing the main road. However once on the path you are taken into a world that Constable know and loved and painted.

The path is wonderfully maintained along by the river and I only wish I had had more time. I ran past Wiston Mill where I could here the sound of a weir. There is a pathway that takes you through the grounds of Wiston Hall though I decided against this and instead continued on the Stour Valley path over the river and through a lovely wood and into open fields. Just before Little Horkesley in Essex I decided to retrace my steps back to Nayland. A wonderful run in beautiful countryside and a lovely village.

Famous Men and Women of Suffolk No 7 in a Series

In previous posts I have mentioned some of the famous men and women of Suffolk including

No 6 Henry Crabb Robinson - Diarist- Born in Bury St Edmunds
No 5 Thomas Gainsborough - Landscape and Portrait Artist - Born in Sudbury
No 4 Matthew Hopkins - Witchfinder General - Born in Ipswich
No 3 Louise Rame - Ouida - Author - Born in Bury St Edmunds
No 2 Robert Bloomfield - Poet- Born in Bury St Edmunds
No 1 John Constable - Romantic Landscape Artist - Born in East Bergholt

No 7 - William Alabaster 1567 - 1640 I mention because he was born in Hadleigh which is of course the venue for this Sundays 10 mile race.

His claim to fame was that he wrote Roxana, a Senecan tragedy in Latin. He is known for his theological works, including De bestia Apocalypsis (Delft, 1621) and Ecce sponsus venit (1633) and a Lexicon Pentaglotton (1637).

He was created Doctor of Divinity at Cambridge by royal command of King James the !st in 1614.

His personal sonnets included

"My friends, whose kindness doth their judgments blind"

My friends, whose kindness doth their judgments blind,
Know you, say they, the dangers where you run,
Which zeal hides from you, but compassion
Tells us? You feel the blow, the smart we find.
I know it well, and as I call to mind,
This is the bill: dearness, affection,
Friends, fortune, pleasure, fame, hope, life undone,
Want, prison, torment, death, shame--what behind?
Is then my sense transel'mented to steel,
That neither this, nor that, nor all, can feel,
Nor can it bend my mind, which theirs doth break?
Not so, nor so; for I am not insensate,
But feel a double grief that for Christ's sake
I have no more to spend, nor have spent that

I understand some of the sonnets from Alabaster have been covered by Vaughan Williams though I have never heard them myself. Anyone familiar with his works?

If you are running on Sunday in Hadleigh spare a thought for him.

21st July -Great Men and Women of Suffolk No1 in a Series.

John Constable 1776-1837.




East Bergholt in Suffolk is the home of John Constable, the world famous romantic landscape artist.

http://www2.freefoto.com This is a useful link to many of John Constable's famous scenes such as the Haywain, Mill at Dedham, Boatbuilding, Flatford Mill. I particularly like Dedham Vale Morning Scene. To be honest the view today of this scene is largely unchanged.

It must have been a combination of the big Suffolk skies, the winding lanes and thatched houses that gave Constable the inspiration to paint. John Constable was born in 1776, his father was a wealthy miller who owned water mills at Flatford Mill and Dedham. He must have been a bit of a disappointment to his father who must have wanted him to follow in his fathers footsteps and for a short while he did work at one of the water mills but it seems he was easily sidetracked and would end up sketching.

Like many artists Constable wasn't particularly successful during his lifetime,his picture of the Haywain received acclaim in France but he wasn't that popular in England.

Today thousands of people descend upon East Bergholt which struggles at times to receive the volumes of tourists.