Hoglands - Henry Moore's House Studios and Gardens

Today I joined other members of Bury St Edmunds U3A in a day out by coach to Henry Moore's House, Studios and Gardens in  Peery Green, Hertfordshire.

This was the details of the day we were provided with beforehand:

"Our coach departs from Ram Meadow Car Park (by the toilets) at 9.30 am. We have allowed 90 minutes for the journey – if we arrive earlier than 11 am we won’t be able to get in.

On arrival we will receive maps, site entrance tickets, timed Hoglands entrance tickets and be given a brief introduction to our visit.

Tour times of Hoglands, Moore’s former home will be as follows (each taking 8 people) 

• 11.15 am – 11.55 am
• 12.00 noon – 12.40 pm
• 12.45 pm – 1.25 pm
• 1.30 pm – 2.15 pm

In each case please arrive 5 minutes before your time slot and a member of staff will meet you.  Please leave your bags and coats in the lockers. Overshoes (provided) are required to be worn for the tour.

Between 11.15 am and 2.30 pm when not on the Hoglands tour you can have refreshments at the Rosey Lea café at the Visitor Centre or you can picnic at outdoor café tables next to the Visitor Centre and by Large Figure in a Shelter and the Archive – all uncovered.  Please allow plenty of time if using the café so you don’t miss your tour.

During this time you can also wander independently with the aid of your map.  There are 4 studios and the Aisled Barn to explore as well as acres of sculpture lawns – your tour with the guide later will give context and tell the story of Moore so you may be glad of a bit of time to explore beforehand.

At 2.45 pm we will all have a tour of the Studios and Gardens, divided into 2 groups of 16 which will head off in different directions.  Tours take approximately 1.5 hours – dress suitably for the weather.

Our coach will leave at 4.30 pm and I would hope to be back by 6 pm."

Here are a few of my photos.

We arrived just before 11am.

I was in the last group to visit the house so had plenty of time to explore.

The gardens are extensive and a showcase for Moore's biggest statues. We got a map and a booklet with a description of each. Here are just a few.

Closest to the Visitor Centre. Reclining Figure: Hand. 1979. As I saw later in the house, Moore was a collector of bones, stones and shells, echoes of which are visible in this figure. 

Double Oval 1966. During the 1960s, Moore made a series of increasingly abstract and monumental sculptures. The two forms of Double Oval look a bit like bones, but it has also been suggested that the idea for this sculpture came from a pair of scissors half submerged.

Three Piece Sculpture : Vertebrae 1968-9. Another sculpture inspired by bones. Like vertebrae, the forms share the same basic shape but are not identical.

The aisled barn was open today - it isn't always. It is home to the Henry Moore Tapestries. 

He created his first with Dovecote Studios in Edinburg in 1950. Another seven were commissioned from the Brose Patrick Studios  between 1971 and 1974.  Although based on his drawings Moore maintained that the tapestries should not just replicate them but provide a translation from the medium of drawing to tapestry that is an interpretation of the original.

May favourites is the one of The Three Fates.

The guide in the barn helpfully explained it to me. Their names are Clotho (Spinner), Lachesis (Allotter), and Atropos (Inflexible). Clotho spun the “thread” of human fate, Lachesis dispensed it, and Atropos cut the thread (thus determining the individual's moment of death).

I next visited the Yellow Brick Studio, where Moore carved in wood and stone. 

Then I visited the Bourne Moquette Studio, full of the initial models Moore made before scaling up his sculptures.

This is the moquette of The King from his famous King and Queen

Later I visited the Top Studio next to the house which was Moore's original studio/

I went down to the bottom of the garden. The maps says it is over 25 minutes walk from the house.

Here I found in the sheep field the statue Large Upright Internal/External Form 1953-54, cast 1981-82. This epitomises his thematic concept of presenting one form inside another.

Returning via the Sheep Field, I got as close as I could to the Large Reclining Figure of 1984.

The original of this was just 33cm long. Only two bronze casts of the scaled up version were made - one destined for Singapore and the second sited here. At over 9m long and weighing 4 tonnes this is Moore's largest work to be cast in bronze.

Returning to the visrtor centre I passed Moore's Summer House where he would sit and draw.

I had my lunch at one of the picnic tables by Moore's last monumental sculpture Large Figure in a Shelter 1985-6. I found it interesting to go inside it and view it from inside as well as out.

I still had some time before my visit of the house so I took a little walk. The Hoops Inn next door  is, unfortunately closed at the moment.

I walked up the road to St. Thomas' Church. It was only after looking it up later that I discovered the graves of the sculptor Henry Moore and his wife Irina, are located in the churchyard.

I found a footpath saying it was part of the 195 miles Hertfordshire Way so followed that for a short distance back to Hoglands.

Lovely countryside.

Then it was my turn to tour the house, but no photographs were allowed inside.

Then we had our tour of the garden. My group was led by Jim. He had a file with illustrations to go with his talk.

Fascinating. I came away with a new understanding that sculpture needs to be appreciated by sight from multiple angles and maybe touch... and that words are an inadequate medium to explain it.

Before I left, I bought a couple of souvenirs. Not many know that Moore did textile designs and these are based on one of them.

A lovely day out, and we were back in Bury St. Edmunds by 6pm as promised.

Thanks Pat for organising and for the staff at the Henry Moore Foundation for the guiding and information.

You can find more of my photos here on Flickr.