A TREASURE trove of drawings and paintings, including images of Okehampton Castle, Walkhampton Church and Bridestowe Church, have returned to Dartmoor as part of an exhibition.

Over 50 watercolours and some 500 pencil sketches by accomplished artist William Henry Jones, who lived in Manaton from 1904 to 1923, have been donated to Manaton Parish and the Dartmoor Trust by the artist’s granddaughter, Bryony Cullum, who has agreed to them being exhibited at Neadon Barn near Manaton.

The exhibition, part of the Devon Open Studios event, has been supported by Manaton Parish Council and Moor Than Meets the Eye parishcapes project. At the end of the exhibition, at 7pm on Saturday, September 21, the drawings and paintings will be auctioned in support of the Dartmoor Trust’s work.

William Henry Jones’ granddaughter Bryony Cullum tells of the amazing chance find of the artistic works: ‘The extraordinary story of grandfather’s art only really started for me and my son Hamish, when my mother died and my husband, Noel, went to Devon to clear her bungalow and bring her belongings back to north Herefordshire.

‘On his last look around, the furniture van full, Noel smelt gas, which he traced to a meter in the garage, in a cubby hole built into the hillside.

‘Alongside was an assortment of stuff accumulated from my aunt’s and this he hastily jammed into the back of the removal lorry and brought it home.

‘At this time we lived on a farm and I had a young child and a full time job, so it was some time before I started to investigate grandfather’s belongings.

‘Unpacking a suitcase revealed a treasure trove of paintings, some framed, some not; a real delight.

‘Another day, hidden in a linen basket, seven sketchbooks came to light and other sketches besides. A few more unframed paintings were discovered, a number suffering from neglect which Ronald Moore, a renowned art historian, has expertly restored.’

The prints include sketches of Bellever, Vixen Tor, Walkham Valley, Lydford Gorge, Fingle Glen, Postbridge, Merrivale Quarry, Warren House Inn and Princetown, among many others.

The Dartmoor Trust, which archives and makes available to the public worldwide over 30,000 images of Dartmoor, has arranged a full programme on Saturday evening, including viewing paintings, prints and sculptures by local artists Mairi Laing and Trevor Meadows.

The trust will be inaugurating founder trustee Lady Elizabeth Kitson as the Dartmoor Trust’s patron. Since the trust’s foundation 23 years ago, it has made numerous grants to support projects that benefit Dartmoor, created an archive of 30,000 images, made available documents, maps and oral histories connected to Dartmoor and held exhibitions, most recently the award-winning Dartmoor Life in the First World War.

All are welcome to the exhibition, although numbers are limited so anyone who wishes to attend should email trustee Simon Butler [email protected]