In June there was a church twinning visit to Abingdon and The Sint-Niklaas group gave a gift of a 19th-century painting of St Helen’s Church, by George Vicat Cole. They had found it in an auction in Belgium, bought it, and had it restored. Argentan and Schongau also contributed. Since then the painting has done a tour of some of the Abingdon churches.

Today the painting was presented to Abingdon Museum in the presence of the Mayor of Abingdon, Cllr Rawda Jehanli, Cllr Penny Clover, Chair of the Museum Sub-Committee, and Dan Sancisi, Museum Manager, by members of the church twinning committee.

George Vicat Cole (1833–1893) was an English landscape artist who often painted along the River Thames, travelling by steam launch. He was the son of George Cole, another landscape painter.

Abingdon Wharf and the River Thames with the spire of St Helen’s Church is a familiar view. Cole portrayed the Thames beneath a clouded sky. Quite a few of the buildings and the Ock bridge have changed since this painting.