WEDDINGTON CASTLE - An Online History

KEY PEOPLE: Miles Sharp (1897 - 1973)

Miles Bamford Sharp was a landscape artist. He worked with oil, watercolours, and also made line engravings. Much of his work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy.

Miles was born at Brighouse, Yorkshire in 1897. He studied for eight years at the Bradford and Leeds Colleges then moved on to the Royal College of Art where he gained his Diploma. After finishing his studies he returned to Brighouse to become Head Draughtsman at Barraclough Brothers.

In 1925 Miles Sharp moved to Nuneaton to become Art Master of the newly formed Nuneaton Art School based in the Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery. The Art School flourished under his leadership, growing from 120 students, to 600-800 by the time he retired in 1952. He moved to Budleigh Salterton in Devon where he continued to teach art and paint. He died there in 1973.

Among his local works are two watercolours of Weddington Hall (one of which is pictured above), as well as several watercolours of Coton Church, Arbury Farm, the Council House, Manor Court Road, Bramcote and the Market Place.

Many of these works are currently in the possession of the Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery.

Weddington Hall. Watercolour.	'A Warwickshire Farmyard'. This is quite possibly that of Weddington Farm, Church Lane	Miles Sharp's signature, taken from the back of 'A Warwickshire Farmyard'.	Miles Sharp's address, taken from the back of 'A Warwickshire Farmyard'. Includes the painting price at £25.	Practise brush strokes, taken from the back of 'A Warwickshire Farmyard'.	A detail from 'A Warwickshire Farmyard'.
A Miles Sharp painting of Woodbury Common, in Devon.	Heathland Oil on Canvas	Landscape, verso (to Oil on Canvas)	Woodland Landscape	A Warwickshire Village scene. Dated 1941.	A Warwickshire Village scene. Dated 1941.
Ploughed field and trees Oil on canvas	Estuary Scene. Watercolour Location not known	Kilnsley Crag, Yorkshire Oil on Canvas