Anybody visiting the North Offices and climbing the stairs to the upper floor cannot help but notice the mural on the wall facing them on their return to the reception area.

But have they stopped to wonder just what it represents, how it got there and who produced it?

All can now be revealed, since quite by accident David Boulton found a reference recently in a copy of the ‘Perkins Echo’ of November 27th, 1969.

The mural represents the gardens at Thornhaugh Hall - the house bought by Perkins in 1950 which was used both as a home for the Managing Director and as a guest house for distinguished visitors until it was sold in the 1990s. The flower gardens were well maintained and were admired by all visitors, to the extent that it was decided to make them the subject of a painting to be seen at Eastfield.

A well-known artist of the time, Deryck Foster, was commissioned to produce a painting, nothing small but a wall-sized mural that would form a backdrop to the main office stairs. Thus he commenced work in his Isle of Wight studio, using panoramic photographs and plan of the garden. With the work destined to be 17feet 9 inches wide by 8 feet 6 inches high, his studio proved to be too small, so a local church hall was hired to house the work in progress, which took about ten weeks to complete! The masterpiece was completed in durable polymer washable paint and carefully transported and placed in position at Eastfield in 1969. Just how such a large work was moved a long distance and erected safely is unfortunately not recorded, but it must have been quite an operation.

Deryck Foster was already known to Perkins for a previous commission – this one being a large painting of the sail training ship ‘Sir Winston Churchill’, which hung at Thornhaugh in the drawing room. This ship was of course fitted with auxiliary engines supplied by Perkins. Does anyone know the whereabouts of both the ship and the painting today?

Below are some scanned pictures of Thornhaugh Hall itself, taken from a Perkins Christmas card and postcards which were available at the Hall.

Thornhaugh Hall is located a mile west of the village of Thornhaugh and nine miles north west

of Peterborough. The earliest known date oft he history of the village is 1130. The total area

of the Thornhaugh Hall estate is 170 acres, comprising 100 acres of arable land and pastures,

60 acres of woodland and 10 acres of ornamental grounds and gardens. Designed by a local

Architect, the Hall was built in 1913.

David Boulton May 2008