At the AGM, the present committee were all re-elected, with the addition of Jenny Barley.
The speaker for the evening was Geoffrey Robinson who talked on the Worlingworth Jubilee painting. This amazing piece of artwork was commissioned by Lord Henniker to celebrate a parish event in 1810, to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of George 111.
Lord Henniker was a member of a wealthy family and had been to Eton and Cambridge before sailing to the Baltic to learn about the timber trade. He became an MP in 1785 and was a member of the Royal Society and the Antiquarian Society. He wanted to show his patriotism and wealth.
There had been an event at Windsor at the start of the year-long celebrations, with flags, processions, church services and an ox roast. Unfortunately the King could not attend as his health was poor and he was about to be declared insane, but other members of the royal family were there.
Lord Henniker ‘s event, the Worlingworth Jubilee Feast followed the same pattern. A fifty stone ox was roasted in a special kiln, there was bread and ale as well as music, dancing, cricket, stalls selling all sorts and the more we looked at the painting, on screen and on a huge replica painting, the more we could pick out. There is even a wedding going on at the church.
Geoffrey thinks a landscape artist would have painted the main buildings – church, hall and workhouse and the road, river and trees – before the event and other artists would have sketched the action on the day and the whole thing would have been put together in a studio in London.
The original painting now hangs in Worlingworth Church. It has been looked at by Dendy Easton of Antiques Roadshow and has no great monetary value but he declared it to be’ a priceless piece of social history’.
It certainly made for a very entertaining evening.
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 16th May when Geoff Cooper will talk on Conserving Antarctic Heritage.