Walking through the Stour Valley in Suffolk on a sunny autumn day, it is difficult not to appreciate the gentle beauty of England’s countryside.
The neat fields beside the river are separated by ordered hedgerows. A light breeze blows, pushing great white clouds across the blue sky. A herd of cows run across the pasture to greet a farmer. To top it all off, there’s a National Trust tea room within a half hour walk. It is an English idyll.
But this is not just any part of the rural landscape: this is John Constable country, the place where the artist grew up and which inspired some of his most well-known paintings.
The Hay Wain, his most famous work, has become the defining image of the country, adorning biscuit tins, jigsaw puzzles and tea towels. In a BBC poll in 2004, it was rated the second best English painting behind only Turner’s Fighting Temeraire.
Read more: What it’s like to stay in one of King Henry VIII’s royal palaces
It is an appropriate comparison, because both artists will be honoured in a landmark exhibition at the Tate Britain this winter. It marks the 250th anniversary of their birth – Turner was born in 1775 and Constable in 1776 – and will be the largest ever display of their work.
It was with this in mind that I went in search of the real Hay Wain, and to discover whether the Suffolk of Constable’s paintings exists today.
The site which inspired the painting, at Flatford, is now under the protection of the National Trust and is free to visit. It includes the locations of five Constable scenes depicting life on the river, which survive in greater or lesser degrees (mainly lesser).
It is so popular that when I visited, the “you are here” point on the map had been worn off by enthusiastic fingers.
Painted in 1821, the Hay Wain shows a cart being pulled across the pond outside Flatford Mill, which was owned by the Constable family. On the left bank is Willy Lott’s cottage. To the right, fresh green fields. Overhead, white and grey clouds mostly blot out the blue sky.
It is a charming spot, and one where you can easily while away an afternoon. But follow a seven-mile walk around Dedham Vale, and it’s possible to discover many more of the most important sites in…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Independent Travel…