The Frampton FloraThe Frampton Flora

Over twenty years ago, more than 300 Victorian flower paintings were discovered in the attic at Frampton Court in Gloucestershire. Bold, exactly observed, and beautifully and skilfully executed, they represent one of the earliest and most intriguing collections of amateur flower paintings to be found to date. Between 1828 and 1851, the sisters Elizabeth, Charlotte, Catherine, and Mary Anne Clifford, and their aunts Charlotte Anne, Catherine Elizabeth, and Rosamond, explored minutely their corner of the country, and succeeded in painting an impressive number of its native plants. Their chief inspiration was simply the area they lived in. Frampton lies in the Vale of Berkeley, an area of mixed farming, criss-crossed by dykes and streams. The River Severn is just one mile to the west, and five miles to the south was Charlotte Anne's house, Stancombe Park, with its landscaped grounds set amonst the wild Cotswold beechwoods. The Frampton Flora is Richard Mabey's account of the wild flowers, the painters and their paintings, as well as an enduring record of the richness of the English countryside in the early 19th century. Illustrated in colour throughout, in a large format that showcases the intricate detail of each painting and the distinctive artistic stule of each family member, this uniquely beautiful book seeks to recreate the charm and intimacy of the original notebooks in which the watercolours were found.