Town sketches show changing face of Rugby

A series of pictures that illustrate the changing face of Rugby over the 20th Century are set to go on public display for the first time in a new exhibition opening next month.

They reveal snapshots of the town's history and will be on display at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum from 10 April until 5 October.

The exhibition, called Picturing Rugby, will showcase paintings, etchings, sketches and prints of the town.

Landmarks featured include Rugby School and St Andrew's Church as well as buildings consigned to history, such as Holy Trinity Church.

Senior collections officer Catherine Shanahan said Picturing Rugby captured the town through a century of change.

"From commercial artists commissioned to create a historical record of the town to amateur artists who found Rugby's iconic buildings a constant source of inspiration, the exhibition includes familiar street scenes and snapshots of the town's lost history," she said.

One commercial artist's work in the town resulted in a book, Rugby, A Series of Pencil Sketches by Joseph Pike, which was published in 1930.

Eddie Scott-Jones meanwhile drew street scenes in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and his pictures captured views of Regent Street and North Street.

Also included are a series of etchings by Gertrude Hayes, a Rugby School art teacher and an alumna of the Royal College of Art, whose street scenes in the early 20th Century contain many intricate details.

The exhibition also includes works by Hayes's husband, Edwin Betts, who shared his wife's love of architecture and developed his own distinctive style while etching town centre scenes.

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