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Hadleigh Nub News delves into the life of former Hadleigh resident, artist Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris.

Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris was born on December 11 1889 in Swansea to George Lockwood Morris (iron founder and Wales rugby international) and Wilhelmina Lockwood Morris.

His mother Wilhelmina had studied painting and was an accomplished needlewoman - possibly influencing Morris to pursue his artistic endeavours later in life.

Around 1916 Morris fell in love with Arthur Lett-Haines. He moved in with Lett-Haines and his wife, Gertrude Aimee Lincoln. Gertrude returned to her home in America, leaving the two men spent the rest of their lives together, although both had affairs.

This included Morris having an affair with the artist Paul Odo Cross, who helped to finance the purchase of Benton End. Lett-Haines also had an affair with author of the Orlando, the Marmalade Cat series, Kathleen Hale.

Morris chose the country life to pursue his passion for horticulture after his city life in such busy places as Paris and London.

For this reason he chose life in Suffolk and quickly set up the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing.

The school was first set up in Dedham, but following a fire in 1939, the school was moved to the large farmhouse of Benton End in Hadleigh, where Cedric and his partner Lett also lived.

More of an artistic community than a school, the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing encouraged individuality and painting "en plein air." (Or, painting outdoors).

Benton End House, a Grade II listed building on Benton Street, was originally a large medieval farmhouse. The grounds of the house contributed to the laissez-faire attitude of the artists.

Students at the school included Lucian Freud, one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists, and Maggi Hambling, who created the sculptures A Conversation with Oscar Wilde and A Sculpture for Mary Wollstonecraft.

Throughout his artistic career, Cedric painted portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and flower and animal studies in equal measure.

In addition to his love of painting, he was also an avid and experimental plantsman. He was a noted iris breeder and each winter would travel to places such as Portugal and Turkey to paint and find plant species that he would then establish in the garden at Benton End.

His botanical endeavours at Benton End led to the house was acquired by the Pinchbeck Charitable Trust in 2018, with the aim of restoring Morris' garden and establishing the house as an education centre in art and horticulture, as well as a memorial to Morris.

Gainsborough's House holds the largest collection of artwork by Cedric Morris. In 2017, a collection of 52 paintings and 62 drawings by Cedric Morris was given to Gainsborough's House by Maggi Hambling and Robert Davey.

His work is displayed in public galleries from Tate Britain in London to Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand.

He lived in Benton End House, Hadleigh up until his death in 1982.

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