ALL ARE WELCOME .  Refreshments served.

Philip is also running a ten week watercolour course starting Monday 4th January, 10.00 a.m. – 12.00 p.m.  The fee is £85 (or £43 as above).

  Black Moon by John Kiki, 2009

John Kiki is exhibiting recent work at Mandell’s Gallery, Elm Hill, Norwich from 15th October to 14th November 2009.  The gallery is open 10.00 – 17.00 hrs.  The show includes some sculptures by Bridget Heriz.

John Kiki, who has a studio in South Denes, has had successful one man shows in America, Switzerland and London and was given a prestigious show at Norwich Castle last year.  He has won far-reaching critical acclaim, including from renowned artists like Frank Auerbach who said of John:  “His work is mysterious to me, sometimes profound, always fresh and alive.”   More information on John Kiki can be found on the Targetfollow website here and on the Pap Art website here.

Wildfowlers, painting in acrylic by John Baker, September 2009.  John Baker, from Gorleston, has taken up painting since retiring from life on the sea and enjoys painting for the love of it, though this painting is a  commission.

Mother and Child, carving in York stone, by Bridget Heriz, commissioned for the Cobholm and Lichfield  Resource Centre by the Bridge Trust, 2006, funded by SRB5.  The sculpture has been moved whilst building works are taking place to extend the Resource Centre and I hope this photographic compilation (background from the avenue in the graveyard) does not relate to the fate of the sculpture!

April 2010:  The carving has been relocated in the new foyer of the Cobholm and Lichfield Resource Centre.  It looks fine in its new setting apart from the notices mounted on the wall unnecessarily close the sculpture.

The Fisherman’s Hospital at the north end of the Market Place was founded by The Corporation of Great Yarmouth in 1702.  The building was begun in 1698, probably based on an off-the-peg design by a Dutch architect, with the plan tweeked to fit the irregular space available on the site.  It cost £621.  It was set up as Almshouses for ‘decayed’ fishermen providing free housing for twenty fishermen and their wives aged sixty and over who could no longer provide for themselves.  A wife had to leave for the workhouse however if her husband died. 

Some of the cottages had spiral staircases up to the first floor, and some ladders, but there were no floor boards and it is presumed the fishermen swung hammocks from the rafters.  No were there any  partition walls on that floor, so privacy was only available on the ground floor.

The building is built in brick and displays ornamental detail in a charming baroque fashion, including a fine figure in the cupola on the roof representing Saint Peter, the patron saint of fishermen, and the ‘fisher of souls’.  English Heritage, probably mistakenly, has stated that this figure is Saint Christopher.  The sculpture is made of wood and was repainted in 1986 by students of the Great Yarmouth Art College when some restoration work took place.

Originally there were also two wooden sculptures of fishermen adorning the brick gateway posts but these had decayed and been removed by 1805.

In the centre on a square pedestal stands a cast  statue of a figure of Charity: this is thought to be the first free-standing sculpture to exist in the town. This figure is cast in lead painted to look like stone and came from a lead foundry in London.  There seems to be no information available about the artists who created these figures, but research will be taking place 2011-12 to support an application to English Heritage for funding towards further restoration work.  If anybody has any information or ideas, it would be good to be able to improve the record.

The exterior of the building has been well-preserved but the internal layout has been altered to provide nine units suitable for contemporary fishermen of Great Yarmouth who continue to be provided for by the Charity. 

Thanks to Dr. Paul Davies and Great Yarmouth Municipal Charities for information.

Stage 1 A Cobholm Crucifixion

Stage 2 A Cobholm Crucifixion

Stage 3 A Cobholm Crucifixion

Stage 4 A Cobholm Crucifixion

http://www.johndashwood.blogspot.com

Terracotta sculpture by Janice Burgoyne, height 15 ins.