Frescoes in the Tearoom

Complementing the frescoes of the swimming-pool pavilion are the vigorous and colourful murals that decorate the Buscot tea room, which was converted from part of the eighteenth-century stable block in 1991.  The murals, painted a secco (on dry plaster), between 1991 and 1994, are the work of Ellen-Ann Hopkins, and they evoke the Renaissance style of Veronese, who covered the walls of the Villa Barbaro with amusing portraits of the owner and his family.  Here, the artist has included many symbolic objects whose full meaning is understood only by the family and friends of Lord Faringdon, though everyone will recognise the family lurchers, the black swans from the Buscot Park lakes, and various flowers from the Four Seasons garden.  Rather than include her own self-portrait, the artist has allowed her faithful black Scottie, Macbeth, to stand in for her.  Quixotic and enigmatic, the frescoes are also full of energy and colour and form an important part of the continuing artistic tradition at Buscot Park.

The Estate Office,

Buscot Park, Faringdon,

Oxfordshire SN7 8BU.

Telephone: 01367 240786

Email: estbuscot@aol.com