Benton End – A Home of Art and Irises – sponsored by Kirker Holidays.

Benton End – A Home of Art and Irises – sponsored by Kirker Holidays.

Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines.

The Army & Navy Club, St James’s Square, 36 Pall Mall, London SW1.

Wednesday 22nd April 2026 at 2pm.

Cost: £35; Guest price: £37 to include tea and coffee on arrival.

Benton End was the home of Sir Cedric Morris and his partner Arthur Lett-Haines, who were both recognised artists in their day. In 1937 they set up the East Anglian School of Painting & Drawing at the house with many celebrated artists attending the school including a very young Lucian Freud, Maggi Hambling and Francis Bacon.

The garden is also famous as Cedric was a horticulturist and breeder of irises and innovative gardeners such as Beth Chatto also visited and took inspiration from the garden. There are today a whole range of ‘Benton’ irises which can be purchased today with names such as ‘Benton Madrid’.

The lecture is sponsored by Kirker Holidays and will be given by Beatrice Prosser-Snelling from the Garden Museum in London; Beatrice is the project director for the restoration of the garden and house, which has just received funding from the National Lottery. If art and gardening are your passions, then this is a talk not to be missed and will be followed up with a visit to Benton End once the house is open.

Image courtesy of Philip Mould & Company.

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