Bideford Art School

It started life in 1896 as a technical college, a result of ‘self-help’ Victorian values. The last twenty years of the Victorian era led to what was known as ‘municipal socialising’ where museums, art galleries, technical colleges were created for the public good. Bideford was no exception and its art college developed into a specialist art school, possibly because of the nature of the area which is blessed with a wonderful coastline and was a place where artists did and still gather. There were some excellent artists who trained there. These include Allin Braund who became famous for lithographs and trained and taught at Hornsey School of Art, Leslie Worth, who became President of the Royal Watercolour Society, cartoonist Michael Darling, Judith Ackland, John Littlejohn, Brian Chugg, Morgan Rendle and woodcarver John Butler. Their works and others can be seen as part of the Burton Art Gallery permanent collection. In the 70s the Art School became a general further education college, and art education was diverted to North Devon College in Barnstaple and latterly the School has been renamed the Bideford Arts Centre.