From Camouflage to Creativity: Exploring Leamington’s Artistic Past

This morning your Membership Secretary took a short walk around Leamington's Creative Quarter, to find out what it was all about and to visit the new Stoneleigh Arms.

Leamington Spa has a long and rather surprising relationship with the arts. Today, the town is increasingly known for its galleries, studios, creative businesses and digital industries. But during the Second World War, some of Britain's artists and designers were using their skills for a very different purpose.

They were Camoufleurs.

The Camoufleurs came to Leamington

At the beginning of the Second World War, the Government established the Camouflage Directorate to protect factories, power stations and other important sites from aerial attack. Its aim was to make targets difficult for enemy aircraft to identify from the air.

Leamington Spa became an important centre for this work. A hub was established at the Regent Hotel, while a large workshop operated from the former Roller Skating Rink at the end of Victoria Colonnade, on the site now occupied by the Loft Theatre. A separate Naval Camouflage Unit was based at the former Art Gallery and Museum in Avenue Road.

 

Plaque on the side of the Regent Hotel

The old Art Gallery and Museum, now private flats.

The people working in these establishments became known as Camoufleurs. Many were established artists and designers, whose understanding of colour, tone, scale and perspective could be put to practical use.

The Loft Theatre and Victoria Colonnade

 

Their work was remarkably sophisticated. They produced perspective drawings and three-dimensional models and devised schemes using contrasting tones, shapes, netting and simulated structures. The intention was not simply to hide something, but to disrupt the way it was perceived from above — making it difficult to identify its size, shape or purpose.

At its height, the Leamington operation employed around 230 people. Among them were artists and designers who would go on to have significant careers after the war, including Christopher Ironside, Richard Guyatt, Eric Schilsky, Julian Trevelyan, Roland Penrose, Robert Goodden, Robert Darwin, Stephen Bone and Colin Moss.

An artist's eye on wartime Leamington

The Camoufleurs' contribution to Leamington's artistic history goes beyond their official work.

As the wartime camouflage programme was wound down, many of the artists spent time recording camouflage schemes in situ. Their paintings and drawings provide a visual record of this unusual aspect of the war, with examples now held by the Imperial War Museums and Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum.

They also continued to draw and paint in their spare time, recording the town around them: its streets and houses, its people and everyday wartime life. Their work captured subjects including evacuees arriving from nearby Coventry, the aftermath of bombing raids and the transformation of places such as Jephson Gardens and Newbold Comyn for food production.

The Imperial War Museums' collection provides a fascinating glimpse into this period. It includes works made by artists working with the Directorate of Camouflage in Leamington, including paintings and drawings of the camouflage operation itself.

So the Camoufleurs were not simply artists temporarily passing through the town. For several years, Leamington became a working environment in which artistic observation, design and visual experimentation were being applied to an extraordinary practical problem.

Spencer Yard: a direct link to the past

One of the most interesting places to see this history today is Spencer Yard.

The former Unemployment (Dole) Office within Spencer Yard was used by the Camoufleurs during the war. Today, the same area has been regenerated as part of Leamington's Creative Quarter, with the former Dole Office and other historic buildings given new uses connected with creative and digital industries. 

And this is where Leamington's wartime artistic history meets its modern creative identity in a particularly striking way.

In 2024, three colourful sculptures were installed in Spencer Yard as The Nanite Garden, created by Leamington-based artist Lucy Tomlins. The installation consists of two cacti and a mountain, produced using digital fabrication and then painted by hand, signifying the connection between the Camoufleurs based at the Old Dole Office and the site's new digital life.

 

The surfaces of the sculptures are covered in thousands of small painted triangles. Their geometric treatment references camouflage and visual distortion, while the use of digital fabrication connects the work with contemporary digital and gaming technology. From a distance the sculptures can appear flattened; as you approach them, their appearance changes.It is an unusually literal conversation between past and present: artists once used visual tricks to alter how objects were perceived from the air; an artist today is using digital technology, geometry and colour to alter how we perceive sculpture on the ground.

A creative quarter with a long memory

The story doesn't end at Spencer Yard.

A short distance away on Clemens Street, the former Stoneleigh Arms has itself been given a new life. The building is now home to Stoneleigh Arms Arts Space, a community arts space run by Lighthaus Arts. 

The Stoneleigh Arms was not a wartime Camoufleur site, and there is no direct connection between the two. Its significance lies instead in being part of the wider contemporary creative landscape developing in this part of Leamington. That landscape includes galleries, studios, makers, digital businesses, community arts projects and public art, alongside historic buildings whose earlier lives are being rediscovered and reinterpreted. In that sense, the Camoufleurs' story feels surprisingly relevant. The Stoneleigh Arms Arts Space is run by Lighthaus Arts CIC, providing exhibition opportunities, studios, workshops and other support for artists and the wider community

The camoufleurs' work depended on looking closely: understanding how colour, shape, scale and perspective could change what the eye perceived. Today's artists and designers may work with very different materials and technologies, but observation, experimentation and visual problem-solving remain at the heart of creative practice. 

Children's art work in the LSAGM, exploring the camoufleurs in the town.

 

More about the Stoneleigh Arms Arts Space

31 CLEMENS STREET LEAMINGTON SPA CV31 2DP 

OPENING TIMES TUE-SAT 10AM-5PM & SUNDAY 11AM - 4PM (GALLERY & RETAIL SPACE CLOSED MONDAYS) 

Their Story

Stoneleigh Arms Arts Space grew out of the LSA Art Room, a temporary community gallery created in an empty Leamington Spa shop in 2022. Its success demonstrated a real appetite for an accessible, welcoming space where artists could exhibit, work and connect with the wider community.

This led to the creation of Lighthaus Arts CIC in 2023, with the aim of developing a permanent community arts space. After several years of planning and fundraising, Stoneleigh Arms Arts Space opened in South Leamington in December 2025.

Today, the space brings together exhibition galleries, artist studios, ceramics facilities and creative workspaces, alongside workshops, events and education and community programmes. Its aim is simple: to make creativity and the arts more accessible, while providing opportunities for artists and the local community to come together.

There is an extensive "What's On" so if you're interested in finding out more, here's a link. 

KIMBOLTEN CASTLE and BUCKDEN TOWER, CAMBRIDGESHIRE

(Some text and most photographs by Cherry Rosewall - thank you Cherry!) 

A fantastic time was had by all at Tuesday's trip to Buckden Palace and Kimbolton Castle. 

Photo with all permissions. Courtesy of Carolyn Gifford

 

 

We had a guided tour of Kimbolton Castle in the morning and Buckden Tower in the afternoon. Both were the last homes of Katherine of Aragon where she was kept a virtual prisoner by Henry VIII. She died at Kimbolton, which is now a school, and was taken from there to burial in Peterborough Cathedral. We learned a lot and had a lovely day including a delightful lunch at Kimbolton Castle and homemade cake and tea at buckden Tower which is now home to Claretian Missionaries. 

Above left Kimbolton Castle. Above right, Buckden Tower. Katherine was kept in this tower for two years until 1534.

Kimbolton Chapel. Katherine worshipped here.

A talk in the Great Hall at Kimbolton

Above is the Headmaster's Study, which we were told was the room where Katherine died. The Castle has been rebuilt since then, and is mainly by Vanborough in the early 18th century.

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New Trip for September 2026!

 ABINGDON-ON-THAMES AND KINGSTON BAGPUIZE HOUSE, OXFORDSHIRE

TUESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 2026

Leaving Leamington at 9.00am we will travel direct to the quaint market town of Abingdon, which
dates back to the Saxon era, where we will have free time to explore the architecture and historical
treasures including Abingdon Abbey, St Nicolas Church, St Helens Church and Long Alley
Almshouses. 

The Friends of Abingdon Civic Society has several walks on their website, on the
Events page, which can be downloaded. Two look particularly interesting – Heart of Abingdon and
Heritage. 

The ancient church of St Helens has a medieval painted ceiling in the Lady Chapel. The
church website has more information under History. 

There are local cafes to obtain coffee/lunch or bring a picnic to enjoy beside the river.

We leave Abingdon at 13.45pm to travel to Kingston Bagpuize House, a family home set in the
Vale of The White Horse and surrounded by a beautiful garden and parkland. There has been a
manor at Kingston since Saxon times but the current house is Georgian as is much of the furniture.
It featured in an edition of Downton Abbey as the home of Lord Merton! We will have a 45
minute tour of the house and then time to look round the garden. Redevelopment of the garden and
grounds started in 1949 and continues to the present day. In the early days advice, and plants, were
provided by Harold Hillier.
We will have tea and cake (included in the price) before leaving at 16.30pm.

All about our trip to Weobley and Burton Court in Herefordshire!

 (with thanks for photos and text to Cherry) 

Weobley is part of the Hereford Black and White Trail and has several Tudor black and white houses.

Parts of the recent film Hamnet were shot in Weobley.  There is also a Heritage Trail with plaques.

On the edge of the village SS Peter and Paul church has its origins in Norman times and has been added to and rebuilt over the centuries.  The bell-tower was added in the mid 14^th century (the second tallest in the county) and is set at an angle and thought to have doubled up as a fortified peel tower against Welsh raids.  

 

We set off to the lovely medieval village of Weobly where Hamnet was filmed. Lots of sunshine, nice cafe and fascinating church.

 The historic church SS Peter and Paul, with Norman origins.

Medieval cruck-framed house in Weobley

The Wobbly (Weobley) Badger cafe. It was used as Shakespeare's birthplace in the Hamnet film.

 And then on to Burton Court in the afternoon. 

“Architecturally Burton Court is varied with influences ranging from Norman Medieval, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian periods.  The Norman influence is noticeable in parts of the cellars and also on a large archaeological dig in the grounds that has been going on here since 2000.  We have since amassed the largest medieval pottery collection in the county.  We are still waiting to prove if we have the remains of an earlier castle settlement.

The centrepiece of the house is the spectacular 14^th Century Great Hall; a remarkable survivor of medieval architecture that dates back to 1330.  The Great Hall was used as a Court of Law for centuries, hence Burton Court.  Oddly enough the court rolls in the 17^th century state that people were held to court for not doing enough archery practice!”

 

 The owner of Burton Court, Mr Simpson, did a very interesting guided tour!

 And Mrs Simpson provided a wonderful cream tea for us all.

 The 14th century Great Hall.

 Green man detail in the carved fireplace.

Regency dancing at the ballroom in Leamington.

 

Friday Focus talks at the gallery are wide-ranging and yesterdays was something new and a real treat. It took place in the Regency ballroom and featured live piano music and dancing, allowing us all to drift off into the realms of Jane Austen!

The combination of music, movement and storytelling made history feel wonderfully immediate. Rather than simply hearing about Regency society, we were able to glimpse what it might actually have felt like to attend one of these fashionable assemblies two hundred years ago.

One of the things I found most fascinating was just how many rules governed a Regency ball. Public Assembly Rooms, whether the famous London venues such as Almack's or smaller towns around the country just like Leamington Spa, operated under strict byelaws covering dress, behaviour and etiquette. Breaking the rules could result in fines or even being asked to leave. Gentlemen, for example, were expected to leave their swords at the door before entering the ballroom.

Presiding over the entire occasion was the Master of Ceremonies, whose authority within the ballroom was considerable. He introduced guests, directed the musicians, approved dances, settled disputes and generally ensured that the evening ran smoothly and according to the rules. In many ways he was part host, part organiser and part referee.

The Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum collection includes the Master of Ceremonies' badge of office, purchased for the museum by the Friends of Leamington Art Gallery (FLAG); you can see it here on the left.

Some of the regulations raised a smile with a modern audience. Shouting, clapping and noisy behaviour on the dance floor were strictly discouraged, while arriving late to a dance meant quietly joining at the end of the set rather than disrupting proceedings. Even finger snapping and exuberant cheering were considered inappropriate behaviour for polite society, as was holding your partners arm with your thumb not tucked in (a cause of considerable bruising apparently!)

The dances themselves could be lengthy affairs. The leading couple would begin at the top of the set, which might include 20 couples, and gradually progress down the line before eventually returning to their starting place, meaning that a single dance could continue for half an hour or more.

What I loved most was the way the event conjured an entire world: the rustle of silk gowns, the careful introductions, the excitement of being asked to dance and the ever-watchful eye of the Master of Ceremonies ensuring that standards were maintained. Sitting in that splendid ballroom, listening to the music and watching the dancers, it was remarkably easy to imagine that the next person through the door might be Elizabeth Bennet or Mr Darcy.

Flag's thanks to everyone involved in such an enjoyable and informative afternoon, and to the gallery for continuing to find such engaging ways to bring local history to life.

Knebworth House and gardens.

(images with kind permission of Cherry Rosewall)

 

We travelled to Knebworth on one of the hottest day's this year. There was a "red" weather warning for extremely hot weather, but we ventured forth in our delightfully air-conditioned coach, and had a wonderful time. Knebworth House has 28 acres of formal gardens including a maze, colourful borders and fine trees; Sir Edwin Lutyens had a hand in these gardens as well as he married into the family!  

Knebworth House has been home to the Lytton family for over 19 generations.  Stories and heirlooms reflect the family's contribution to literature, politics and foreign service.  Visits from people as diverse as Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth I have also added to Knebworth's rich heritage.

Below: waxwork of Edward Bulmer-Lytton

 

(below) Some more interior images

 

 

 

Below: A selection of views of the stonework sculptures 

 

 

(below) The beautiful gardens

 

 

Creative Leamington Spa: A New Book Celebrating the Town's Artistic Legacy

A major new publication celebrating more than 200 years of creativity in Leamington Spa has recently been launched, and it holds particular significance for Friends of Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum (FLAG).

Creative Leamington Spa, edited by Stella Bolitho and produced by the Leamington History Group, explores the rich artistic and cultural heritage of the town through the contributions of more than 100 local writers, researchers, artists and photographers. Among its many subjects is FLAG itself, with a dedicated section written by the charity's Secretary, Lyn Buckle.

The book traces Leamington's creative journey from its Regency origins through to the thriving artistic community that exists today. Along the way, it highlights many of the individuals, organisations and spaces that have helped shape the town's cultural identity.

For FLAG members, the publication offers an opportunity to discover not only the history of the town's arts scene, but also the stories of artists who continue to contribute to it today. Several artists who are members and supporters of FLAG are featured within its pages, reflecting the important role they play in sustaining Leamington's creative life.

The launch took place at Lighthaus Arts Space in the restored Stoneleigh Arms building, itself an example of the arts-led regeneration explored in the book. The publication also examines Leamington's galleries, theatres, public art, music, photography, dance and design heritage, while looking ahead to the future of the town's Creative Quarter.

More than a history book, Creative Leamington Spa is a celebration of the people whose creativity has enriched the town over two centuries. It also serves as a reminder of the importance of organisations such as FLAG, whose ongoing support helps preserve and promote Leamington's artistic heritage for future generations.

Copies are available from a range of local outlets, including Waterstones Leamington Spa, Leamington Studio Artists, Lighthaus Arts Space, The Fold and Kenilworth Books.

Unruly Desires: Reframing the Past — Queering History at Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum

 

Image courtesy of Annabel Rainbow for FLAG

History is often presented as fixed, authoritative, and complete. Yet beneath the surface of many museum collections lie untold stories, hidden identities, and alternative ways of seeing the world. Unruly Desires: Reframing the Past, currently showing at the Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum, challenges visitors to reconsider the past through a contemporary queer and postcolonial lens.

Running until 6 September 2026, this free exhibition brings together acclaimed photographers Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh alongside selected works from the museum's own collection. Through a thoughtful dialogue between historic and contemporary artworks, the exhibition asks powerful questions about identity, representation, love, intimacy, and who gets to be visible within cultural history.

Reimagining the Canon

At the heart of the exhibition are photographic works by Gupta and Singh, artists whose practices have long explored the intersections of sexuality, migration, race, and belonging within the South Asian diaspora. Their work confronts the limitations of traditional Western art histories, creating space for narratives that have often been marginalised or erased.

Particularly striking are Gupta's New Pre-Raphaelite series and Singh's The Promise of Beauty. Both bodies of work draw upon the visual language of classical studio portraiture while simultaneously subverting it. Familiar poses, aesthetics, and references are transformed into something radically contemporary, questioning the imperial and heteronormative assumptions embedded within art historical traditions.

Rather than rejecting history outright, the artists engage with it directly. They reclaim visual spaces from which queer bodies and desires have historically been excluded, creating images that are both deeply personal and politically resonant.

Conversations Across Time

What makes Unruly Desires especially compelling is the way it connects contemporary photography with historical works from the Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum collection.

The exhibition draws unexpected links between Gupta and Singh's photographs and objects including Pre-Raphaelite artworks, Company Paintings, and other historical pieces. These juxtapositions reveal how ideas about beauty, gender, race, power, and desire have been constructed over time.

The inclusion of newly commissioned, site-specific works further deepens this dialogue. Inspired directly by objects and images housed within the museum, these responses invite visitors to look again at familiar collections and consider what stories remain hidden within them.

The result is not simply an exhibition about the past, but an active conversation between past and present. History becomes something dynamic, open to reinterpretation and challenge rather than a fixed narrative handed down unchanged.

Queer Visibility and Radical Tenderness

While Unruly Desires engages with complex themes of colonialism and representation, it is equally an exhibition about intimacy and human connection. Throughout Gupta and Singh's work, queer desire is depicted not as spectacle or transgression but as something ordinary, beautiful, and deeply human.

Their portraits offer moments of vulnerability, affection, and tenderness that have often been absent from mainstream visual culture. In doing so, they create a powerful counterpoint to historical narratives that have overlooked or suppressed LGBTQ+ lives and experiences.

The exhibition's title itself feels apt. "Unruly desires" suggests feelings and identities that refuse containment, categorisation, or erasure. These works insist on visibility while embracing complexity, ambiguity, and personal truth.

A Timely Exhibition

At a moment when museums and galleries are increasingly examining their collections through more inclusive and critical perspectives, Unruly Desires: Reframing the Past demonstrates the importance of revisiting historical narratives with fresh eyes.

By placing contemporary queer perspectives in conversation with traditional collections, the exhibition reveals how art can challenge inherited assumptions and expand our understanding of both history and ourselves.

Visitors will leave with a renewed appreciation not only for the work of Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh but also for the ways museums can become spaces of dialogue, questioning, and discovery.

Visitor Information

Exhibition: Unruly Desires: Reframing the Past

Venue: Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum, Royal Pump Rooms, The Parade, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 4AA

Dates: Now showing until Sunday 6 September 2026

Admission: Free

Located within the historic Royal Pump Rooms, the exhibition offers an opportunity to experience thought-provoking contemporary photography while exploring one of Warwickshire's most significant cultural collections.

For anyone interested in contemporary art, queer histories, photography, or the evolving relationship between museums and the communities they serve, Unruly Desires: Reframing the Past is a compelling and rewarding visit.

The Spirit of Ecstasy - Eleanor Thornton bio

 

 

Most people recognise the elegant silver figure that graces the bonnet of a Rolls-Royce. Known as the Spirit of Ecstasy, it has become one of the most enduring symbols in automotive history. Yet few know the remarkable story of the woman who inspired it, a woman whose family once lived in Royal Leamington Spa.

The Woman Behind the Spirit of Ecstasy: Leamington's Connection to a Motoring Icon

 

Born in London in 1880, Eleanor Thornton, known to her family as Nelly, spent part of her childhood in Leamington after her father, electrical engineer Fred Thornton, moved there to oversee one of the town's most ambitious Victorian projects. During the late 1880s, Leamington embraced the new age of electricity, and Thornton played a key role in bringing electric lighting to the town centre, helping transform the streets, shops and public buildings of the spa town into a modern urban environment.

As a young woman, Eleanor pursued a career as a secretary before finding employment in the emerging world of motoring journalism. Working for the influential publication Car Illustrated, she became the assistant to its editor, John Scott-Montagu, one of Britain's earliest motoring enthusiasts. Their professional relationship eventually developed into a long and complex personal one that would shape the course of her life.

Around this time, motor cars were becoming status symbols, and owners increasingly sought distinctive mascots to personalise their vehicles. When Scott-Montagu acquired a Rolls-Royce, he commissioned artist and sculptor Charles Robinson Sykes to create a unique bonnet ornament. Using Eleanor as his model, Sykes produced a figure known as The Whisper, depicting a woman with a finger raised to her lips.

The collaboration did not end there. In 1911, Sykes created another design inspired by Eleanor—a flowing, forward-leaning female figure whose draped form appeared to capture movement itself. This sculpture evolved into what became known as the Spirit of Ecstasy. Over time, the emblem became inseparable from the Rolls-Royce brand, appearing on generations of vehicles and becoming one of the most recognisable automotive symbols in the world.

Despite her connection to such an enduring icon, Eleanor's own story ended tragically. During the First World War, she was travelling in the Mediterranean when the ship carrying her was attacked and sunk by a German submarine. She lost her life in the disaster, while Scott-Montagu survived. He later commemorated her with a memorial, recognising the devotion and companionship she had shown throughout many years of service and friendship.

Today, visitors to Royal Leamington Spa can discover this fascinating chapter of local history through the town's Blue Plaque programme. The plaque serves as a reminder that behind one of the world's most famous motoring emblems was a real person whose life intersected with innovation, art, social convention and tragedy. It also highlights an unexpected connection between a Warwickshire spa town and one of the greatest luxury automotive brands ever created. 

With thanks to Royal Leamington Spa, Blue Plaques Group. 

 

Leamington Spa's 44th Blue Plaque commemorating Eleanor Thornton

 

Leamington Spa's 44th Blue Plaque, which commemorates Eleanor Thornton, the model used for the worldwide iconic figure on the front of Rolls-Royces.

  

Blue Plaque Honours Leamington Woman Behind the Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy

A blue plaque at 24 Charlotte Street in Leamington Spa was unveiled by Town Mayor Cllr Sarah Boad on Thursday, 4 June, in honour of Eleanor Velasco Thornton, also known as “Nelly”, who was the model for the Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy emblem, one of the most recognisable symbols in motoring history.

The Blue Plaque Scheme recognises former residents of Royal Leamington Spa who made significant contributions to the town’s history.

The Mayor of Leamington Spa, Cllr Sarah Boad, said:

“The woman seemingly in flight mascot we know for sitting proudly at the front of this prestigious car has a story behind it that brings a fascinating link and history to Leamington Spa.

“The story of this Leamingtonian, was of a bright, independent woman who trained as a secretary, obtained a responsible position working for an automotive journal and went on to work as a Personal Assistant to the Editor, John Scott-Montagu, of Car Illustrated. He was an early car enthusiast and bought a Rolls-Royce and commissioned the sculpture of his muse, Nelly who modelled for this distinctive emblem.

“The Blue Plaque commemorates this famous image of Nelly, a resident of our wonderful town, for future generations.

“The Royal Leamington Spa Town Council’s Blue Plaques Scheme brings together a group of volunteers and statutory bodies dedicated to celebrating the town’s rich history. I wish to thank the Blue Plaque Group for their hard work in ensuring that the inspiration Nelly provided as a model for the iconic Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy is remembered.”