Date/Time
Date(s) - 18 March 2026
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Price
£5.00 - £10.00
Location
Leconfield Hall
Categories
William Blake in Sussex
Wednesday March 18th at Leconfield Hall
Doors open 6.30 for 7.00 pm
£5 for Members and £10 for non Members. Refreshments available. This is a Pay at the door event. Prior booking not required.
Doug Nicholls, chair of the Blake Cottage Trust, will give an illustrated talk on William Blake’s life in Sussex and the ongoing restoration of his cottage at Felpham
Blake was a contemporary of artists, like JMW Turner, who was heavily patronised by the 3rd Earl of Egremont. Though the Earl was a renowned art collector, Blake’s works at Petworth House were commissioned by his wife, Elizabeth Ilive, an amateur artist and scientist in her own right. She commissioned major works such as “A Vision of the Last Judgment” which can be viewed at Petworth House.
In 1803, while living in Felpham, Blake had an altercation with a soldier and was arrested at the Fox Inn at Felpham on the charge of sedition for allegedly saying ‘all soldiers are slaves’ and ‘God damn the King.’ He was indicted at a hearing in Petworth. The presiding magistrate was the Duke of Richmond but it is highly likely that the Earl of Egremont, who was a local magistrate and a friend of the Duke, was also present. Blake was later acquitted at his trial in Chichester.
1800-1803. Blakes time in Sussex, where he lived at Felpham near Bognor Regis, was a period of intense creative output where he wrote the preface to his epic poem “Milton” which contained the words to “Jerusalem”; now seen as a great patriotic anthem though not noted as remarkable at that time.
His time at Felpham and his connections to Petworth thus form an important part of his life story outside of London.
Bookings
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