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Weybridge Heath, 1864
Unknown artist
259.1964
In 2025 the autumn equinox falls on Monday 22nd September. The sun will appear directly above the equator and the northern and southern hemispheres will experience nearly equal amounts of daylight, earning itself the Latin name equinox for ‘equal night’.
Autumn is yet to arrive in this painting of Weybridge Heath from September 1864. Instead of autumnal yellows, lush green trees sway in the breeze across the heath and hedgerows. A lonely figure trudges up the lane with horse and cart, perhaps weighed down by harvested crops from the fields beyond.
From where the artist stands, the folly-like tower of an elegant summerhouse built by Lord King, Baron of Ockham in 1833 peeks through the top of trees. The house had become a hotel by the time of this painting.
Today it is the Hand & Spear pub, taking its name from the family crest of a hand grasping a spear.
