Warm clay tiles fill this quiet fold within the Surrey hills, just a stones throw from Guildford’s rat race.
As the final embers of Victorian society stepped into the turning tide of the 20th century, an ornate chapel was steadily and lovingly being born here, one person’s beautiful dream made real. Land was given for the burial of villagers, the medieval churchyard across the gently sloping valley was full to the rafters with restful sleepers. A Capel was needed for this new burial ground.
Stepping forward, a woman of vision, Mary Watts (born mid century), a huge talent in her own right. Set upon by the dullards of her day as ‘the painter’s wife’, this character assassination did not discourage Mary, she rose and soared above such unsightly slurs.
Married to a much older symbolist painter called George, 30 years her senior, Mary started work on what would become a lifelong passion, creating a sanctuary where every fitting, each adornment, every covering would be hand crafted and well thought.
Terracotta pervades every groove and hollow, an earthly beauty in every nook and cranny, as Mary sought the finest artists of her time to fill her Potters’ Arts Guild in Compton.
The postcard village, nestled just beyond Guildford’s teaming sprawl oozes a charm that is only be to found in the few places where one person’s dream floats in the air.