Commissioned Pieces.

The Garrick Inn
The Garrick Inn

The Mudlen End model of ‘The Garrick Inn’ at Stratford-Upon-Avon.
The Garrick Inn is a timber framed building dating back to the 1400’s. It has a rich history including plagues, fatal fires and priest holes.
Many former occupants still visit from the “other side”. Reputed to be the oldest pub in Stratford.

 

Guildhall Feoffmont School
Guildhall Feoffmont School

The Guildhall Feoffmont School in Bury St. Edmunds.
The School opened on Monday 3rd July 1843 as the Guildhall Feoffmont Poor Boys School, thirty boys being the first pupils.
The school was built on land owned by, and with the money provided by  The  Guildhall Feoffmont Trust .
In July 1993 the School celebrated its 150th anniversary and Mudlen End was commissioned to produce this model to commemorate the event.

 

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Moyse’s Hall Museum

For almost a thousand years Moyse’s Hall has looked out over the Market Place of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.
It has seen many changes since it was built in 1180 and has had a variety of different uses, including a tavern and a ‘gaol’.
It is now a museum which provides an excellent setting in which to trace the unfolding story of West Suffolk.
Mudlen End Studio was commissioned to produce this model to sell in the  museum shop.

 

 The Anchor Inn
The Anchor Inn

The Anchor Inn can be found in the high street in Swanage, on the south coast of England and is one of the oldest buildings in the town.
It is not the pub itself that was the subject of the model, rather the small jewelry shop on the right hand side, called ‘Georgian Gems’ which is part of the same building.
The owner wanted to mark his 21 years in the shop and commissioned Mudlen End to create and produce this model in 1992.
Only a short run of 50 were produced.

As an interesting (but irrelevant !) foot note, in March 2018 The very first Anchor Inn was listed on eBay. It was bought by a collector in the U.S. with whom I have regular contact. He got the back story from the seller who told him that he actually took it into the jewelry shop, then into the actual pub, where they showed him their own model kept behind the bar. So we know the whereabouts of 3. It’s a nice touch that the model has been into the actual building.

 

Cherry Trees School. Thanks to David Purcell for photo
Cherry Trees School. Thanks to David Purcell for photo.

 

Mudlen End Studio was commissioned to produce this model of Cherry Trees School, near Bury St. Edmunds, to celebrate the opening of the new school hall by the Duchess Of Grafton on 5th October 1990 .
The model is of the original building that housed the nursery, started in 1982 by Wendy Compson. The building was always referred to as the pink house. The models were given to pupils and staff as gifts.

(Much thanks to Sheena Moore for the information.)

Actual production numbers of this model are unknown.

On the above point I have the following note. I have seen a, or the mould for producing this model and it is in very good condition. Generally a plaster mould is good for around 200 uses until details wear and sharpness is lost. The condition of the mould would indicate to me that it didn’t have a long working life. The number would, I believe, be no more than 100. However this seems to be quite large considering the size of the school, so it may even be more in the range of around 50. Frustratingly, maybe there is an invoice or paperwork in the Mudlen End archives which would clarify this.

 

2 thoughts on “Commissioned Pieces.”

  1. Hi Ben,

    Was the Garrick model made for sale through the hotel itself or at some other venue in Stratford? Thye must have been made in reasonable numbers since they turn up fairly regularly.

    What about the Feeoffment School model? Thta turns up from tiem to time, so must have a reasonable production run (unlike the Anchor Inn). Anything known about how or where it was retailed or whether it was given away through the school itself perhaps?

    Regards,
    David

    1. Hi David.
      Thanks for the question.
      I am not 100% sure that the Garrick was produced at the request of anyone particular, making it a ‘commissioned piece’.
      I can only speculate that maybe at some point someone did engage Mudlen End to produce this model, rather than it being
      made ‘off the cuff’ as it were.
      It may well be that James Hart simply produced this model because it was a well know iconic building that he thought would make a nice model, as perhaps
      was also the case with the ‘Shakespere’s Birthplace’ and many of the larger models (except the Kings Head and the Chigwell Cottages, as these were certainly
      commissioned pieces.)
      On weekly drives delivering stock to various shops around Suffolk it was common for Mr.Hart to stop for ‘refreshments’ at the Bell Hotel in Clare, this
      connection certainly lead to him to produce a model of that building.
      As for quantity produced, it is hard to say. Invoices from archives would possibly tell me the time span of the actual production of a certain product,
      and also possibly, in the long run, actual numbers produced, maybe one day I’ll have that answer !

      I believe that the Feoffmont School was made as an ‘in house’ gift to be sold/given to thoes people attending the 150th celebrations of the school.

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