FROM ART TO OPERA

How to visit Sussex

CHARLESTON

The farmhouse decorated by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant is one of the most atmospheric of any artists’ houses. Most of the doors, panelling, and other woodwork were playfully embellished by the artists and many of the paintings, books, furniture and memorabilia date back to the 1920s and 1930s. The garden – designed by artist Roger Fry – is especially fine. Recently it has been enhanced by new exhibition spaces in the former barns, and a busy programme of talks and events Visits to the house are by guided tour only and leave every 10 minutes, but you’d be wise to book in advance (charleston.org. uk). The garden is free to visit during opening hours.

hRATHFINNY

WINE ESTATE, ALFRISTON If you need some refreshment while touring East Sussex, the Rathfinny vineyard, in the chalk uplands just above

Alfriston and overlooking Cuckmere Haven, must have one of the best settings of any English winery. It produces several styles of sparkling wine and is exceptionally well set up for visitors, whether you want to eat, stay, taste or simply tour around the vineyards and winery (rathfinnyestate.com).

MONK’S HOUSE, RODMELL

This modest cottage in a backstreet in the village of Rodmell is where Virginia Woolf and her husband Leonard spent holidays from 1919 and eventually lived permanently. Guests at the home, now owned by the National Trust, included TS Eliot and EM Forster and it is only 11 miles by road from where Woolf ’s sister Vanessa lived in Charleston. An evocative 1920s/1930s atmosphere is retained in both the house and garden, where her wooden writing lodge is preserved and it is a few minute’s walk out across the nearby marshes to the spot where Woolf drowned herself in the River Ouse. Advance bookings only – opening times are very limited and tickets go on sale every Thursday for entrance for the following four weeks (nationaltrust. org.uk/monks-house).

h TOWNER EASTBOURNE One of the leading galleries in the south of England, Towner was set up as a modest art museum for Eastbourne in 1920. It has come a long way since: it will host the Turner Prize in 2023. The permanent collection is strong on modern British art and includes works by Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant and Eric Ravilious. This summer it is holding two exhibitions:

A Life in Art, showcasing gallerist Lucy Wertheim’s collection of mid-20th century modern art, and Reuniting the Twenties Group, which features early works from artists including Barbara Hepworth and Victor Pasmore. Both run until September 25 (townereastbourne.org.uk).

i DITCHLING MUSEUM

OF ART AND CRAFT Housed in the old Victorian school just behind the churchyard, this is a tiny gem of a museum that hosts exhibitions linked to the remarkable creative history of the village. This summer the main show is Frank Brangwyn: The Skinners’ Hall Murals, which brings together eight of the largescale panels Brangwyn painted for the Skinners’ Company in London from 1901-1912 as well as etchings and photographic studies. The exhibition runs until October 16 (ditchling museumartcraft.org.uk).

GLYNDEBOURNE

AND THE OPERA

The flourishing of operatic art at Glyndebourne in the 1930s had nothing to do with the Bloomsbury set 10 miles away at Charleston, but there was similarly a lot of love involved. The building of the first theatre stemmed from the infatuation of John Christie – who lived in this impressive country house in an especially scenic fold of the Sussex downs – with a visiting soprano, Audrey Mildmay. They married and together inaugurated the Glyndebourne festival in 1934, with Mildmay singing Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro. After the war, the summer festival went from strength to strength and typically sells out. Not this year though: if you want to go, there are (probably as a result of nervousness about Covid) plenty of tickets still available – including for The Marriage of Figaro (glyndebourne.com).

WEST DEAN COLLEGE OF ARTS AND CONSERVATION

If you fancy yourself as a practitioner as much as an observer, West Dean, the estate owned by Edward James, is now run as a residential centre for teaching art and craft. There are dozens of shortstay courses covering everything from basketweaving to metalwork (westdean.org.uk).

MORE ON SUSSEX

Sussex Modern is a group of museums, art galleries, wineries and tourist attractions across both East and West Sussex. A special project this year is a series of illuminated texts placed in seven different locations by the artist Nathan Coley. for more details, see sussexmodern.org.uk