House & Garden 
DETAIL OF THE “ LIMNERSLEASE ” DIAL 
a dinner-table decorated with russet fern and 
scarlet toad-stools which seemed to be quite 
in harmony with the genius loci. 
But whatever character is maintained in 
the garden, it is seldom that fashioned objects 
of ornament cannot add a beauty to the 
scene. It is part of the charm, and, I may 
add, of the utility of the terra-cotta work 
which is turned out of the Compton Studios, 
that it is suitable for the decoration of any 
garden or of any description of house, from an 
Italian palace, where the great pots, which 
look so well when planted with tall clipped 
bay, are quite in keeping, to the cottage on 
whose walls the flat sun-dial can be fastened, 
which is as simple in design as it is moderate 
in price. 
But before considering the work in detail 
it may be well to say a few words about the 
industry which is beginning to take such a 
high place in the artistic world. 
It was started in 1895 by Mrs. Watts, the 
wife of the great painter, with a view to the 
instruction and amusement of the Compton 
villagers ; and it has gradually, step by step, 
developed into the present proportions. 
“ Limnerslease,” the picturesque home of 
Mr. and Mrs. Watts, round which the work¬ 
shops and studios of the industry are 
grouped, is situated on sharply rising ground 
in the valley to the left of the Hog’s Back, 
that great wedge of high land which runs 
west from Guildford, and from whose summit 
you have a magnificent panorama of the 
characteristically English scenery of the 
heart of Surrey. It is an ideal setting for 
the little art centre, and is moreover specially 
suited to it, as all the clay used is found on 
the property. The industry is therefore 
quite independent of external help ; the band 
of artist craftsmen working here under the 
direction of the artist’s wife, dig the clay 
from the field and pass it through all the 
various processes, ranging from the potter’s 
wheel to the firing kiln. 
When it is remembered that Mrs. Watts 
is responsible for all the designs, and that 
more than two workers are never employed 
on one object—the potter and the decorator 
—it will be conceded that the unity of which 
we spoke just now, that unity of intention 
and effect which is at the root of all really 
A HANGING JAR MADE AT COMPTON 
2 35 
