Thinking this a result of communications with Rose’s mother, Maria, who, when marriage between her daughter and Ruskin remained within the realm of possibility, had written Effie (Mrs. John Everett Millais since July 1855), to hear her side of the story. Still furious, Effie denounced her former husband as an “unnatural man.” There was, however, other reason for the ferocity: if Ruskin married Rose and the union produced children, it would be obvious that he had not been “incurably impotent” when the annulment was granted; that, in its turn, would have made the grounds for the marriage’s sundering null and void, and all the children she had had with Millais (in the end, eight), illegitimate (cf. Burd, Ruskin and Rose: 107-119; Brownell, Ch. XXIV)! Ruskin's departure for the continent coincided with Gordon's visit to Bridgnorth. The occasion was the unveiling of a memorial window – the great east window – in St Leonard’s Church to his former Headmaster Dr Thomas Rowley on the latter’s seventy-ninth birthday on 24 August 1876. St Leonard’s Church had been almost completely rebuilt in the 1860s, thanks to the initiative of the Rev. George Bellett (rector from 1835 to 1870) and generous sponsors among whom was John Pritchard. In particular, Pritchard funded the construction of the south aisle – formerly the chantry chapel of Our Lady – in memory of his brother George who had died in 1861. The architect was William Slater (1818/19-1872), a pupil and partner of the Gothic Revivalist Richard Cromwell Carpenter (1812-1855). This mainly Victorian, red sandstone edifice with its dominating tower was – and so remains in the twenty-first century – an impressive sight in the High Town. Clayton & Bell were chosen to design and make the memorial window: they had already worked in St Leonard’s in 1872 on windows in the south wall. This was a prestigious firm with many commissions throughout England, such as the large Minstrel window of 1874 in St Peter's Church, Bournemouth, nearly all the stained glass in Exeter College, Oxford, and much more. The theme chosen for the great east window in St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth, was the Te Deum, with Christ seated in majesty with the four Evangelists and figures from the Old and New Testaments below. The early autumn Lakeland scenery was intensely beautiful with brown and golden hues. The Lake District lived up to its reputation for rain during Gordon’s stay. The diary entries confirm this: ' 10 October. Thursday. "Y[esterday] in pretty showery day to Langdale"; 11 October. Friday. "Y[esterday] pouring all day long"' ( Diaries, II, 732). Also staying at Brantwood was Lily Armstrong (the attractive Irish girl whom Gordon had first met in 1870), who had been there since 18 September. Ruskin showed Gordon some of the surrounding area and went to Langdale on Wednesday 9 October, accompanied by Lily Armstrong and Laurence Jermyn Hilliard ("Lollie") (1855-1887), his much-loved friend, secretary, painter and Brantwood neighbour and brother of Connie. Ruskin was an able, enthusiastic guide who knew the area well. The most likely route to Langdale would have been through the village of Coniston, then in a northerly direction to Yewdale and Skelwith Bridge, skirting Elter Water, through Elterwater village and on to Langdale, in the direction of Ambleside. They were in a part of the country that had been the inspiration for much of Wordsworth’s poetry – the Lakeland scenery had "haunted him like a passion" – and Dorothy Wordsworth’s lyrical Journals. Wordsworth had made his home at Dove Cottage, in Grasmere, only a few miles from Langdale. Ruskin too had been haunted by this landscape from an early age: he had composed Iteriad, a verse travelogue on the Lakes, on a visit in 1830. He had a deep admiration for Wordsworth and his belief in nature’s role as educator, not forgetting his campaigns for the protection and preservation of the landscape. His first book Modern Painters was a homage not only to Turner, but to the Lakeland poet with a quotation from The Excursion as its motto. By Bus – Take the 505 from Windermere or Ambleside to Coniston and catch either the Coniston Launch or SY Gondola to Brantwood.

The little collection of Documents relating to Venetian Painters already referred to [...], as made with excellent judgment by Mr. Edward Cheney, is, I regret to say, 'communicated' only to the author's friends, of whom I, being now one of long standing, emboldened also by repeated instances of help received from him, venture to trespass on the modest book so far as to reprint part of the translation which it gives of the questioning of Paul Veronese. [24.187] I was asked two weeks since to offer the prayers of the Church for a dear friend – In answer I said that I certainly would for prayers might be answered in other ways besides miraculous healing – as e.g. by mitigation of pain or peace of mind and that happened in this case for the disease was of the most agonising kind, he had not a throb of pain; and his mind was in perfect peace and clearness till the very last, knowing everything and thinking of every-body[']s good. For details of some of these, see the correspondences with Lady Pauline Trevelyan (Surtees, Reflections), Lady Georgiana Mount-Temple (Bradley), Kate Greenaway (PML: MA 2010), Susie Beever (HL HM 62832-62915), and Francesca Alexander and her mother, Lucia Swett (BPL Mss. Acc. 2400). Still, she says, some letters do seem to indicate sexual interest. One Ruskin posted to his friend, the artist Kate Greenaway, on 6 July 1883 (cf. Batchelor: 315). One of the things that had attracted him to Greenaway’s art was her delicate drawings of children. As their friendship deepened, as had been the case with other young artists he had taken under his wing, Ruskin began to instruct Greenaway on ways to better her technique. Here he comments, first, about a drawing of a sunset she has sent, then he remarks on three drawings of “sylphs” which arrived in the same post:For the full text of Ruskin’s letter to his solicitor, and letters written by Effie during the time when the annulment was being discussed, see Brownell: 523-35; cf. 464. Ruskin had the task of preparing the Denmark Hill house for sale. But he was plagued by fits of depression and general illness. At the same time he was finalising his next series of lectures for Oxford. To relieve his ill health and sadness, Ruskin invited Gordon to dine with him at Denmark Hill on 16 January 1872. It was a happy occasion confirmed by the diary entry: "Enjoyed ourselves" ( Diaries, II, 718). It was Gordon’s last opportunity to enjoy the elegant house and gardens. Ruskin sold the property shortly after and on Thursday 28 March he vacated it for ever. At the age of 29 Ruskin married Effie Gray but the marriage was never consummated and ended disastrously six years later. Effie became romantically attached to the painter Millais, whom she subsequently married. Ruskin buried himself in work, in particular a lengthy study of the city of Venice, producing a remarkable three-volume study of the architecture of the city. In Switzerland in 1869, harnessing the snow waters of the Alps for humanitarian purposes had been one of Ruskin's preoccupations. From Brieg, on 4 May 1869, he wrote of his concerns: “I have been forming some plans as I came up the valley from Martigny. I never saw it so miserable, and all might be cured if they would only make reservoirs for the snow waters and use them for agriculture, instead of letting them run down into the Rhone, and I think it is in my power to show this” (19.lv). Ruskin was also instrumental in a scheme to provide a fountain with fresh drinking water in the village of Fulking, in Sussex; similarly, Pritchard's fountain was equally important to the people of Broseley. PML MA 2250. The letter appears in Bradley: 167-8; cf. Burd, Ruskin and Rose: 114-116. In it, Ruskin compares himself to Rousseau who, in his Confessions, admitted to masturbation: for more, see Simpson, esp. 33-5.

Early in the 1970s, before the accusations of pedophilia arrived, Ruskin had been the exemplar used, most famously by Kate Millet (“Debate”; Sexual), as an instance non pareil of the nineteenth century belief in “dual spheres,” an ideology that championed male dominance. Men, Ruskin said in his lecture “Of Queens’ Gardens” (1864), were the gender which, by virtue of its intrinsic nature, was charged with the responsibility of culture-building—making war, governing, thinking deeply; in contrast, women, possessors of a different intrinsic nature, were more suited to home-building. It was a bifurcation, Millet and others argued which, by definition, disallowed the full development of women’s potential and humanity, forcing almost all of them into the secondary and less powerful roles of family creators and maintainers. Millet’s thesis generated many, sometimes heated, responses both in support of and in challenge to it, some focusing on whether or not Ruskin deserved the symbolic status of “intransigent gender traditionalist” he had been accorded: cf. (among others) on the support side, Lloyd; Pierce; on the revisionist side, Birch; Sonstroem; O’Gorman (“Manliness”). It is possible that this widely public argument made later proposals that Ruskin was disposed to the sexual exploitation of little girls and young women less surprising. Going forward, Hilton and Robson will be my principal references for the argument that Ruskin was a pedophile. While (as noted) other biographers accept the allegation, they have made the case most assertively.Brantwood’s historical Lakeland estate comprises 250 acres, with remarkable gardens created by John Ruskin, his cousin Joan Severn and head gardener Sally Beamish. Beautiful in all seasons with spectacular views across Coniston water to the fells.

Joan Agnew Severn. by John McClelland. Half-plate glass negative, 1890s. Courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London NPG x12187. Information panels are in each of the rooms (foreign translations are also available) and volunteer stewards are often on hand to answer questions. For younger visitors there are a range of quizzes and activity sheets. Although all of Turner’s paintings were sold after Ruskin’s death, their original frames are still preserved at Brantwood, now containing modern reproductions of the paintings that hung in Ruskin’s bedroom. These frames have small leather flaps underneath and grooves on the side, which allowed Ruskin to store them in a specially made cabinet in his study. i.e., draw figures in the nude, a practice employed for millennia to ensure that the body is accurately rendered.Discover the world of John Ruskin at Brantwood, a historic house and vibrant centre for the arts on the shores of Coniston Water. Explore the character of its famous resident through displays and activities in the house, gardens, and estate.

Rudolf Diesel is issued a patent for his internal combustion engine; Diesel's engine eventually replaces steam power. May "Into town. Call at Mr Pritchard’s – found riding school! (Con and Mrs H[illiard] at lunch)" ( Diaries, II, 617). Ruskin was an avid collector of Turner’s paintings, owning more than 300 of them at various points in his life. He preferred Turner’s watercolors over his oil paintings, only possessing one of the latter, The Slave Ship. At Brantwood, he displayed many of Turner’s watercolors in his bedroom. Also present at this special dinner, arranged at Denmark Hill perhaps at the instigation of Mr and Mrs Cowper, were Laurence Oliphant (1829-1888) and seventeen-year-old Connie Hilliard (1852-1915). It must have been an interesting encounter for Gordon. Oliphant was something of a mystic; he was a colourful character, wealthy, possibly a homosexual and the author of several travel books. He was a keen supporter of the fraudulent English-born American spiritualist medium Thomas Lake Harris (1823-1906), founder of a sect called the Brotherhood of the New Life. Connie Hilliard was the daughter of the Rev. J. C. Hilliard and his wife Mary, of Cowley, near Uxbridge. She was the niece of Lady Trevelyan, Ruskin's loyal friend who had died in Neuchậtel whilst on holiday with him in 1866. Ruskin had first met Connie in 1863 at a tea party the eleven-year-old girl had organised (Hilton, Later Years 101). The conversation turned to spiritualism and perhaps to Rose, for Ruskin derived immense satisfaction from it. He wrote in his diary of 6 October 1869: "Heard marvellous things – Breath of Heaven" ( Diaries, II, 681).Ruskin extended Gordon's circle of friends. At the beginning of November, he took him to dinner at the home of John and Jane Simon, probably at their London home in Great Cumberland Street, where he also met Mr and Mrs Hutchinson ( Diaries, II, 686). Mr Hutchinson was most likely Dr (later Sir) Jonathan Hutchinson (1828-1913) who became a surgeon at the London Hospital (1863-1883) in the East End and Hunterian professor of surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons. One of his great discoveries was the identification of three symptoms of congenital syphilis, known as "Hutchinson’s triad". The day after the dinner, Ruskin made a strange comment in his diary: "Had to talk at the Simons’; felt as if silent Mr. Hutchinson thought me conceited" ( Diaries, II, 686).