New exhibition telling the story of Paxton House and its owners to open at Granary Gallery in Berwick

Paxton House was commissioned by Patrick Home, who inherited his Berwickshire estate from a long succession of Scottish lairds.

Home undertook many visits to Europe during his life, including two extended Grand Tours, during which he collected fine art, sculptures, and thousands of antiquarian books.

He commissioned architects John and James Adam to design the house which was constructed by local craftsmen between 1758 and 1763.

The exhibition includes a number of works from Home’s Grand Tour including the exquisite Italian Renaissance painting Madonna Adoring the Christ Child with Angels by Antonio del Massaro da Viterbo, known as Il Pastura, alongside original plans for the location and gardens surrounding the house.

An important story within the exhibition explores Paxton House’s third owner Ninian Home and his connections to transatlantic slavery in the Caribbean. Ninian owned sugar, coffee and cocoa plantations in Grenada, worked by enslaved African people and this exhibition includes several paintings by Adam Callendar depicting the gardens around the plantation houses.

Alongside these are contemporary works by Grenadian artist John Benjamin, who descended from enslaved people and who lived at Ninian Home’s plantations, which were gifted to Paxton House in 1960.

One of the most striking works in the exhibition is renowned Scottish landscape artist Alexander Nasmyth’s painting of the Union Chain Bridge (1820), the world’s first large-scale suspension bridge which spans the River Tweed across England and Scotland.

James Lowther, Head of Visual Arts for The Maltings (Berwick) Trust said ‘We are delighted to work in collaboration with Paxton House to bring this exhibition to Berwick. The House has such strong connections to Berwick and many wonderful artworks and objects in its collections which we hope to bring to a wider audience.”

Hermione Hoffmann, chief executive at Paxton House said: “It is wonderful to be able to share some of our stories with Berwick in the Granary Gallery. Working with The Maltings (Berwick) Trust has been a productive and enjoyable collaboration. We look forward to strengthening our relationship with them and the local community in the future.”

Paxton House: Crossing Borders can be seen from November 9 to February 23. Open Wednesday – Sunday 11am-4pm. Free Admission, donations welcome.