Stanley Spencer Gallery

After his death in 1959 friends and patrons determined to find a permanent home within the village in which to display paintings and drawings that would serve as a memorial to the artist.

On show were many lent works, a number of which now form a part of the permanent collection, including the monumental painting Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta, left unfinished at Spencer's death.

The chapel became underused once a larger Methodist Church was built in nearby Cookham Rise in 1904 and eventually closed, much to the chagrin of the Spencer family who fought hard to keep it open.

Stanley's brother Gilbert Spencer recalled: On 17 April 1910 Stan and I saw the key turned in the door of Cookham Chapel for the last time after the evening service.

[1]The building was then converted by local benefactor Colonel Ricardo into the "King's Hall", a reading and recreation room for village residents, and continued as such until the Second World War, after which it was used for various activities, including a life drawing class suggested by Stanley Spencer.

In 2006/7 the building was completely refurbished at a cost of over £800,000 thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund and was reopened on 29 September 2007 [1], creating a modern, light space which displays Spencer's works to their best advantage.

A mezzanine floor was added and new state of the art equipment installed in a sympathetic renovation which reclaims the simple beauty of the building which Stanley Spencer so loved.

[2] His early rudimentary education, at the hands of his two sisters in a small shed in his grandmother's garden, developed his love of nature as long walks through the woods and meadows were a regular routine.

Time and again he would return to the visual images of his village childhood, just one example being his 1958 Crucifixion which was inspired by seeing piles of rubble in the High Street created by the laying of the mains drainage pipes.

Some of the village atmosphere he so enjoyed can be found walking through the churchyard of Holy Trinity or following Spencer's footsteps along the river bank up to Cockmarsh and Winter Hill.

Of particular interest are the pram that Stanley Spencer famously used to transport his painting equipment around the village and the delicate brushes he used for the fine detail in his later works.

Over the years since the gallery was founded many aspects of Spencer's art have been explored; portraits, landscapes, visionary works, places both far and near and particular periods in the artist's life.