Finding Millais' Ophelia | London KT4
Graphic Whimsy by Bruce Sterling
If you've ever been to the Tate Britain, you would have visited the Pre-Raphaelites Room. And if you've visited that room, you lucky son-of-a-gun, you would have seen the painting of Shakespeare's Ophelia, painted by Sir John Everett Millais in 1852. And, if you've got that far, you will know that it is beautiful.
Recently I read an >> article << about a woman who had discovered the exact spot that Millais used for the setting of his painting, and of course I had to investigate. The spot is along the Hogsmill River in Old Malden (closest station Malden Manor) in a field at the bottom of what was once the garden of the Manor house. Being winter, it was cold and muddy, but it was fun trying to find it anyway...
I got a national train from Waterloo to Surbiton, then the K1 bus to the end of its route at Malden Manor. From there is was a walk down some wintery lanes past St John's Church, where a beautiful little graveyard stands adjacent to the Manor House.
After finding the river all I had to do was find Six Acre Meadow...
aaaand... can you see a similarity? It looks a lot colder and beaker, and generally uninteresting at this time of year, but I did enjoy the brief feeling of being in some almost-countryside. I will be back again in summer to get a more accurate comparison.
Thanks for reading!
x G x
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