The artist’s studios open day and farmers’ market at Valentines Mansion on Sunday 26 July drew in crowds of almost 900 people.

Between 11am and 4pm, the house and gardens welcomed the staggering number of visitors, here to enjoy the finest selection of local produce as well as some unique works of art.

The top floor of Valentines Mansion, historically the servants quarters, now houses nine local artists and craftspeople. Each of the contemporary studios offers breathtaking views of surrounding parkland - a great space for creativity and inspiration.

Visitors on Sunday were able to meet the artists and view their work, which includes stained glass, paintings, ceramics, and sculpture.

Anne Eggebert an artist occupying one of the six studios who specialises in site-specific works using video, tele-technologies, video and installations, also ran participatory activities during the day and was overwhealmed with the response from the public. ‘We were really delighted at the number and diversity of participants in our project - around 150 people of all ages each drew or painted a Venetian bridge for our exhibition Folly that will be shown at Valentines Mansion in September. All this activity was provoked by a fragment of wallpaper we found at the Mansion before the restoration programme began - someone papered the walls with little scenes of Venice back in the 1940s or 50s and there we all were responding to the traces of their activity. It was a very lively day - around 500 people passed through the studio to see what we were doing.’

Julian Walker, another one of the studio artists with an interest in studying the relationship between text and objects got the public involved on Sunday. Visitors were invited to contribute texts for objects found in the gardens, and these will be used to form part of the studio artists’ exhibition this autumn.

Visitors were also able to sit back and unwind in the Drawing Room, where refreshments including tea and cakes were served during the open day.

Trudy Staines, an a ceramic artist was also very pleased with the turnout. "It was great to share our studios with the public and their response to our work was very encoraging and the feedback I received was very positive,. I am looking forward to the next open studio."

The next open studios event will take place on Sunday 22 November and the farmers market will also take place on this date.

Valentines Mansion is open to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10am to 5pm and Sundays from 11am to 4pm. Entry to the mansion is free. Regular events run at the mansion - for more information visit the What’s On page.