We are thrilled to announce the Garden Museum has been awarded a £294,221 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to begin ‘Benton End Revived’, a project to restore and renew Benton End House and Gardens, ultimately re-opening it to visitors as a place of learning, art and horticulture once again, a haven for wildlife, plants and people.
This initial grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund will allow us to complete the first phase of crucial project development work at Benton End including carrying out surveys, drawing up architectural and conservation plans, further investigating the roof and fabric of the building, and working up activity and business plans.
Following this work being completed, we will return to the Heritage Fund for full funding in order to carry out the restoration and adaptation work that Benton End needs, and to deliver a programme of activities and engagement.
Benton End is the former home of celebrated artist and gardener Sir Cedric Morris (1889 – 1982) and his lifelong partner, artist, Arthur Lett-Haines (1894–1978). At this Tudor manor house in Hadleigh, Suffolk, they established the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing, one of the most remarkable art schools of the period, a place ‘outside the system’. One of the first pupils was the 17-year old Lucian Freud; one of the last, Maggi Hambling. The artists were often joined by friends such as Elizabeth David, Vita Sackville-West, Constance Spry, Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears.
In his lifetime, Morris became better known as a gardener than an artist. The garden at Benton End was influential for its naturalistic style, with rare plants from Morris’s travels to the Mediterranean and beyond woven between bursts of the irises whose colours he mixed like paint. Morris famously bred bearded irises, naming over 90 cultivars, many of which carry the ‘Benton’ prefix. His closest protégé was the gardener Beth Chatto who credited Benton End with opening her eyes to what a garden could be; she became the most famous plantswoman of her generation.
After nearly 40 years of private ownership by four successive families, in 2021 Benton End was majority gifted to the Garden Museum by two exceptional patrons with the intention that the house and garden might be revived and opened as a place of learning, art and horticulture once again.
Without the support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players, the Garden Museum would not be able to deliver ‘Benton End Revived’ and it is likely that the house would be put back for sale on the open market, falling into private ownership once more. Benton End’s special identity and heritage as a nationally-renowned former art school and garden of horticultural significance risks being lost. The loss of public access and enjoyment of Benton End and a return to private ownership would leave the gardens in particular at urgent risk, not only of negligence but active destruction.
Charles Spicer, chair of the Benton End Board and trustee of the Garden Museum, said: “We are delighted and honoured that the National Lottery Heritage Fund has chosen to support our ambitious plans to restore and revive Benton End as a vital centre of art, horticulture, food and learning in the heart of historic Suffolk.”
Bridget and Rob Pinchbeck of the Pinchbeck Charitable Trust, who majority gifted Benton End to the Garden Museum in 2021 said: “Rob and I would like to express our extreme gratitude to everyone at the Garden Museum for securing a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant for Benton End. Our faith in the Director, Christopher Woodward, the Trustees and in all the members of the team, who have worked so hard, has been more than justified. As you can imagine, we are thrilled with the result! We thank you once again from the bottom of our hearts. And now the work begins…”
Beatrice Prosser-Snelling, Benton End Project Director said: “It is fabulous to have been successful in our round one application and we can’t wait to get started. This grant from the Heritage Fund will allow us to develop our plans, complete key surveys and meet planning and architectural milestones. Benton End is a truly special place and we are keen to share it with the wider public. However, the house requires significant repairs, maintenance and intervention to make it work as a cultural site equipped for visitors. That’s why this grant is so important, and it represents the start of a very exciting project. We’re grateful to the Heritage Fund and to National Lottery Players, as well as all of the Benton End and Garden Museum supporters.”
In summer 2026, the Garden Museum plans to open the gardens at Benton End to the public once again, ahead of redeveloping the house. Support the ongoing appeal to restore the gardens here: Benton End: Help us restore the walled garden of Cedric Morris – Garden Museum