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John Constable (1776-1837) the son of Golding Constable and the owner of Flatford Mill is synonymous with Flatford for it was here that he lived his early life and became the subject of some of his most famous paintings such as the "Haywain" and where today you can still see some of the buildings seen in his paintings. |
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Bridge Cottage, built in the 16th century it now houses an exhibition on John Constable. |
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Flatford Bridge crossing over the River Stour. |
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View of the river and the river footpath that leads to Dedham in this direction and to Manningtree in the other. |
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The Granary, once owned by John Constable's father Golding. It is now in private ownership and houses a museum and also serves Bed & Breakfast. |
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Flatford Lock. |
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Flatford Mill as seen from the millpond.. |
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The River Stour Trust's electric launch "Stour Trusty 11" leaves on another trip up river to Fen Bridge. |
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The Dry Dock was thought to have been built in the 18th century. It was part of a boatyard where Stour Lighters or Barges were built and repaired, the dock remained buried under tons of soil until found in 1985 when the River Stour Trust carried out an excavation, which revealed the dock complete with the remains of a barge still lying on the timber supports. Archaeologists recorded the barge before reburying it in waterlogged soil behind Willy Lott's House. |
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Another view of the Granary. |
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This timber framed Suffolk farmhouse is known as Willy Lott's House, it is situated beside the millstream close to the mill. It was built between 1600 and 1700 and was taken over by the Lott family in 1720. Its most famous inhabitant was Willy Lott a farmer who lived there all his live from 1758 to 1842. The house is now used as accommodation by the Field Studies Council. |
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The present Flatford Mill was built around 1733 by John's uncle Abram and left to his father Golding on his death in 1764, the mill ceased operating in 1901 due to competition from a steam powered mill that had opened close by. The mill is currently used by the Field Studies Council to run a range of environmental and art courses and so is unfortunately not open to the public. |
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A lovely day for messing about on the river. |
