There is a new temporary exhibition in the County Hall Museum showing photographs and paintings of Abingdon – thanks to the Abingdon Museum Friends.

The Abingdon Museum Friends helped to pay for some of the exhibition including a copy of Turner’s painting The Thames at Abingdon from 1805. There are also some stunning large reproductions of Francis Frith photographs.

A lot of visiting artists came to Abingdon and portrayed well known views of Abingdon’s historic buildings and the River Thames , in their own way. There are more intimate pictures by Oswald Couldrey who knew the town well. He painted the cattle market shown above. Couldrey left Abingdon to establish an art school in India. Deafness forced him back to Abingdon where he read, wrote, painted, and played a soundless piano.

There are also lots of paintings and photographs from the museum’s own collection playing on a loop on the monitor. It took about twenty minutes to view them all and many I had never seen before. In the cabinet below are picture by Harry Lucy who, after retiring from working for Amey in Abingdon, became involved with Abingdon Artists.

There are also pictures by Fetherstone Robson who travelled the country in the 1920s and painted many popular scenes which were mass produced as prints. His output included several paintings of Abingdon.

This makes a very interesting exhibition, and a good way to pass a half hour.