THE BINGHAM
LIBRARY TRUST
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THE ART COLLECTION
The Trust owns many works of art including the following: -
THE WRECKING OF LORD CHANDOS' COACH (pictured right).
This painting was purchased at auction by the Trust in 1998 after being on display in the Kings Head Hotel since 1912. The painting is now permanently displayed in The Bingham Gallery, Bingham House, 1 Dyer Street, Cirencester. The scene is Cirencester Market Place in August 1642 at the beginning of the English Civil War. Lord Chandos from Sudeley Castle, as the King's representative, is visiting Cirencester to execute "the commission of array" making a call to arms on behalf of the Crown.
Cirencester, however, had strong Parliamentarian sympathies and the townspeople attacked Lord Chandos on his arrival outside the King's Head Hotel. This caused the first bloodshed of the Civil War and Chandos fled from the town.
The artist John Beecham (1813-1882) was a local painter in Cirencester, producing a collection of town scenes. As here, many include Victorian details superimposed upon the earlier historical scene.
