Compton Parish Council

Explorer Tom Watts Gallery sits in the Surrey village of Compton, where George Frederic Watts and Mary Watts built a small kingdom of art, clay and stubborn good ideas. Tom says the painted portraits are holding a village meeting after closing time. Mary would probably have given them work to do. The gallery opened in 1904 to show George Frederic Watts's work, making it a purpose-built home for the art of one living professional artist. It belongs to a larger artists' village created by the couple. Their house and studios, Limnerslease, were completed in 1891; Mary worked with local people on the remarkable decorated Cemetery Chapel in the 1890s. The gallery now displays works by both artists and their circle, with changing exhibitions, while the neighbouring buildings reveal how they linked art to teaching and community craft. The place is more than a room of pictures: the landscape and buildings carry the couple's ideas into the present. Check the gallery's current ticket, exhibition and access information before travelling. You can plan a visit around the historic gallery, Limnerslease, the sculpture displays and the chapel, but each area may have its own arrangements. The chapel is a short walk away, so leave time for the village as well as the paintings. Stand back from the decorated surfaces and look closely at the handmade details rather than touching them. A route between the buildings makes it easier to see Mary and George as collaborators, each with a distinct voice. Tom's portrait committee has voted to send him outdoors. Good decision. Follow it from the gallery to the chapel and discover just how far an artists' village can stretch.