Drawing of 'The Chantry' in Billericay

Drawing of Chantry House, Billericay

I have been told that Chantry House is Billericay's oldest building and dates back to 1510 (not 1501 as stated on the building). It was from this building that the Pilgrim Fathers set sail to settle in America Aboard the 'Mayflower'.

I recently walked with my wife the length of Billericay High Street on a bright but bitter spring day and visited all my old haunts that where I played as boy. We had a rather nice coffee in the little teashop in 'Slipped Discs' next door.

It was nice to finally sketch and pay homage to such an old building that has been ever-present on the High Street for centuries and seen many generations stroll past it's doors.

I hope you like my drawing and urge you to visit sometime. Prints available soon.

Buy original or print

A4 Print (hand signed) £14.99 GBP Original 12" x 9" sketch £125.00 GBP

Original drawing of The Chantry, Billericay Hand signed A4 Print of pen and marker sketch on 90lb watercolour paper £14.99
Original 12" x 9" pen, ink and watercolour on 140lb watercolour paper £125
© All illustrations Robert R Wisdom www.theartofengland.co.uk 2012    

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The Chantry in the 1930s

Billericay - 30 years on

I thought it might be fun to look back and see how the views I have illustrated have changed in the past 30 years in Billericay.

Not surprisingly, not a lot is my verdict. It was great walking the streets where I spent my childhood. I enjoyed an excellent coffee in the cafe/record shop next to the 'Chantry'. And so, I decided as my next work, to sketch the oldest building in Billericay. The 'Chantry' dates back to 1510 and is the place from which the Pilgrim Fathers embarked to settle in North America.

Keep watching and all the best to everyone in Billericay & the USA :-)

 

 

 

 

 

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Drawing of St Mary Magdalen, Billericay

Billericay Essex

The church of St Mary Magdalen is the 18th century church that dominates the heart of Billericay's High Street. The first time I drew this I was a student at The Billericay School. In 1970 the BBC's Songs of Praise was to be filmed within the churches walls, and my Art teacher (either Mrs King or Mr Brown) suggested that if I drew the church, they would see to it that it was hung in the church office and I would see it on TV along with countless other millions of viewers.

I set about my masterpiece with enthusiasm and from memory it was quite an accomplished piece for my age but it never once made it as far as the cathode ray tube, and I never saw it again.

This drawing is a revisit to the scene many years later. Chapel Street's ever-present cottages disappearing to the left and the High Street and Billericay's shops to the right. The war memorial proudly displays the fallen from the wars the local townsfolk have lost son's to, contributing to all our freedoms.

I think its a pity (aesthetically speaking) that this focal point now is encased in safety railings. Sign of the times.

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A4 Print (hand signed) £14.99 GBP

St Mary Magdalen Church, High Street, Billericay, Essex.
Hand signed A4 Print of pen and marker sketch on Bockingford 190gsm watercolour paper £14.99
© Robert R Wisdom www.theartofengland.co.uk 2012 

White Hart Billericay illustration

White Hart Billericay

The White Hart in Billericay High Street, or "The New White Hart (NWH) in its present guise.

The Post Office sits behind where, as a child, I used to buy my 'First Day Covers' knowing they would be valuable one day. They're not but the memories are.

Nice to see live music now livens the pub up and its a focal point for lively socialising just as any good pub should be.

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A4 Print (hand signed) £14.99 GBP

The White Hart, (now NWH) 138 High Street, Billericay, Essex.
Hand signed A4 Print of pen and marker sketch on Bockingford 190gsm watercolour paper £14.99
© Robert R Wisdom www.theartofengland.co.uk 2012 

The Three Horseshoes Billericay illustration

Three Horseshoes Billericay

This is a most attractive Grade II listed building in Billericay High Street. It was originally the Three Horseshoes Public House I have found out, then a private residence and now a firm of solicitors.

I love the dormers in the roof - something special about them and as a child always fantasised about having a bedroom in one. In fact my father ran his studio in the dormer space further down the High Street in Hill House, then in its basement space a few years later.

Now there's another illustration begging to be done?

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A4 Print (hand signed) £14.99 GBP

139 High Street, Billericay, Essex.
Hand signed A4 Print of pen and marker sketch on Bockingford 190gsm watercolour paper £14.99
© Robert R Wisdom www.theartofengland.co.uk 2012 

The Red Lion Billericay illustration

Red Lion Billericay

Now here's a pub that's pretty much at the heart of Billericay's High Street. I think everyone that has ever visited a pub in Billericay has been in this one at some time. Especially on a Saturday after a visit to New Lodge has ended in a home win for Billericay Town FC.

The name of an Inn in Billericay called the 'Red Lion' goes way back to the 13th and 14th centuries where it was frequented by Pilgrims. My illustration is at dusk when the pub starts to fill on a Friday night!

Must pop back there myself soon.

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A4 Print (hand signed) £14.99 GBP

The Red Lion, 113 High Street, Billericay, Essex.
Hand signed A4 Print of pen and marker sketch on Bockingford 190gsm watercolour paper £14.99
© Robert R Wisdom www.theartofengland.co.uk 2012 

N. Shelley's of Billericay illustration

N Shelleys Billericay

For as long as I can remember N. Shelleys has been trading in Billericay High Street. They have been going for 85 years now, part of the fabric (if you forgive the pun) of Billericay's High Street, and it's alway a comfort to see some of the older shops still alive and kicking.

It was sad years back to see Cottis' family bakers, Kitts hardware store and more recently Woolworths, with its original wooden varnished doors with brass fingerplates, disappear. And Essex Playthings of course - any child of the 70's will remember the toy shop brimming with Action Men and Airfix kits and ran by two lovely old ladies.

In this illustration is the Reading Rooms which dates back to 1886. The archway leading under N. Shelley lead to an engineer who used to service old classic cars.

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A4 Print (hand signed) £14.99 GBP

N. Shelley and Reading Rooms, High Street, Billericay, Essex.
Hand signed A4 Print of pen and marker sketch on Bockingford 190gsm watercolour paper £14.99
© Robert R Wisdom www.theartofengland.co.uk 2012 

Drawing of The Chequers Billericay

The Chequers Billericay

 

The Chequers in Billericay, Essex, the town of my birth. My good friend rented Chequers Cottage, seen down the side of this picture at the rear of the pub for a year or two, selling art, frames and collectors cards and shared the space with a lovely lady that sold amber jewellery.

This original drawing of The Chequers Billericay was one of several of Billericay High Street - I had a frantic spell 20 years ago sketching and the drawings and illustrations are very nostalgic for me and capture the essence of Billericay as I saw it. This particular scene is at Billericay's heart. It has seen a lot of events in its history - special for me were the Billericay Town F.C. F.A. Vase victorious homecomings of the late 1970's.

More drawings to come so do follow my pages.

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A4 Print (hand signed) £14.99 GBP

Chequers, 44 High Street, Billericay, Essex.
Hand signed A4 Print of pen and marker sketch on Bockingford 190gsm watercolour paper £14.99
© Robert R Wisdom www.theartofengland.co.uk 2012