We always receive a report on the residency from a departing writer and we always take photographs. These are some of them.
Click on any photograph to see the full image, and read their comments.
Valerie Coffin Price artist resident October – December 2019
Valerie Coffin Price – Theatre
Valerie Coffin Price – Allotments
Valerie Coffin Price – Stannells Bridge
Valerie Coffin Price – Studio Roof
Valerie Coffin Price – Studio
Jane Brown, with Bertie in the adjoining churchyard and with
Church Cottage in the background, December 2010
‘Just the right balance of simplicity and comfort
– it was like living in a Hardy novel.’
Brandy Schillace
Brandy’s hands
Susan Vickerman
Julie Blake
Julie Blake
Erica Charalambous was resident February-March 2018. She is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Dance Research, Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Coventry University, and was appointed by them for a residency with HHT. She worked on a project concerning the digitisation of dance.
“The village of Clifford Chambers is very cute but without the book (Round the Square and Up the Tower) and the stories/anecdotes that Sarah shared with me, it wouldn’t have resonated in me as much. The surroundings are beautiful and it was great to experience the place in different seasons. Neighbours were friendly and knew I was resident in Church Cottage…..and I kept a personal journal, as a coping strategy, to support the challenges of academic writing. I would like to be considered for a future residency when I return from Australia and my research work and complete my PhD.”
Erica Charalambous was resident February-March 2018. She is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Dance Research, Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Coventry University, and was appointed by them for a residency with HHT. She worked on a project concerning the digitisation of dance.
“The village of Clifford Chambers is very cute but without the book (Round the Square and Up the Tower) and the stories/anecdotes that Sarah shared with me, it wouldn’t have resonated in me as much. The surroundings are beautiful and it was great to experience the place in different seasons. Neighbours were friendly and knew I was resident in Church Cottage…..and I kept a personal journal, as a coping strategy, to support the challenges of academic writing. I would like to be considered for a future residency when I return from Australia and my research work and complete my PhD.”
Erica Charalambous was resident February-March 2018. She is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Dance Research, Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Coventry University, and was appointed by them for a residency with HHT. She worked on a project concerning the digitisation of dance.
“The village of Clifford Chambers is very cute but without the book (Round the Square and Up the Tower) and the stories/anecdotes that Sarah shared with me, it wouldn’t have resonated in me as much. The surroundings are beautiful and it was great to experience the place in different seasons. Neighbours were friendly and knew I was resident in Church Cottage…..and I kept a personal journal, as a coping strategy, to support the challenges of academic writing. I would like to be considered for a future residency when I return from Australia and my research work and complete my PhD.”
Erica Charalambous was resident February-March 2018. She is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Dance Research, Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Coventry University, and was appointed by them for a residency with HHT. She worked on a project concerning the digitisation of dance.
“The village of Clifford Chambers is very cute but without the book (Round the Square and Up the Tower) and the stories/anecdotes that Sarah shared with me, it wouldn’t have resonated in me as much. The surroundings are beautiful and it was great to experience the place in different seasons. Neighbours were friendly and knew I was resident in Church Cottage…..and I kept a personal journal, as a coping strategy, to support the challenges of academic writing. I would like to be considered for a future residency when I return from Australia and my research work and complete my PhD.”
Erica Charalambous was resident February-March 2018. She is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Dance Research, Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Coventry University, and was appointed by them for a residency with HHT. She worked on a project concerning the digitisation of dance.
“The village of Clifford Chambers is very cute but without the book (Round the Square and Up the Tower) and the stories/anecdotes that Sarah shared with me, it wouldn’t have resonated in me as much. The surroundings are beautiful and it was great to experience the place in different seasons. Neighbours were friendly and knew I was resident in Church Cottage…..and I kept a personal journal, as a coping strategy, to support the challenges of academic writing. I would like to be considered for a future residency when I return from Australia and my research work and complete my PhD.”
Erica Charalambous was resident February-March 2018. She is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Dance Research, Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Coventry University, and was appointed by them for a residency with HHT. She worked on a project concerning the digitisation of dance.
“The village of Clifford Chambers is very cute but without the book (Round the Square and Up the Tower) and the stories/anecdotes that Sarah shared with me, it wouldn’t have resonated in me as much. The surroundings are beautiful and it was great to experience the place in different seasons. Neighbours were friendly and knew I was resident in Church Cottage…..and I kept a personal journal, as a coping strategy, to support the challenges of academic writing. I would like to be considered for a future residency when I return from Australia and my research work and complete my PhD.”
Mez Packer was resident during January/February 2018 and was an appointee of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Coventry University (with whom we annually collaborate). She worked on her novel about colonialisation and race, to be published by Serpent’s Tail.
Jo Baker was invited to contribute a story for Kiss and Part anthology. Resident April 2018
Catherine Fox was invited to contribute a story for Kiss and Part anthology. Resident June 2018
Lucy Durneen was invited to contribute a story for Kiss and Part anthology. Resident April 2018
Jessica Berens was HHT first resident in 2002 and stayed a year.
Laura Joyce, novelist (Coventry University)
Mary Jane Baxter
Lotte Crawford, art historian (Coventry University)
The Hosking Houses Trust is run by writers for writers. Each in turn, as they close the door at the end of their residency, hands the key on to the next.
The Hosking Houses Trust is run by writers for writers. Each in turn, as they close the door at the end of their residency, hands the key on to the next.
I understand there have been around a hundred residencies at the cottage, and I feel very honoured to have been among them. Good luck with the next exciting stage of the programme. I shall continue to spread the word of the Trust and the crucial help it offers to women writers.
Romalyn Ante, poet (SBT appt)
Kathleen Soriano, art historian, autumn 2016. ‘From the eye-level views of the churchyard from the kitchen windows, to the most perfectly appointed bath-tub, the cosy woodburner bringing that all-persuasive hygge (that everyones talking about now) to the perfection of the triangulated kitchen, the chime of the church bell and comfort of the bed….what more could I have asked for? Nothing.’
Timberlake Wertenbaker, I arrived on 12th November 2016 and remained until the end of the year, to work on a new play commissioed by the RSC. I spent most of the time researching which is always a difficult time because one has really not much to show for it, the result of such work only appears later. It was the perfect time to be in Church Cottage.’
Timberlake Wertenbaker in Church Cottage bedroom, June 2016
Mary Jane Baxter, hat-maker and journalist February – May 2012
‘a residency gave me the ‘excuse’ to focus on my writing and my creative life
– to give it the priority it deserves’.
Mary Jane Baxter in Trust House garden, spring 2012
Deborah Amander, Winner of ‘Words and Women’ competition in April 2017, part of the prize was time in Church Cottage. “More than a room is provided, in fact it is ‘A House of One’s Own’ to quote the title Janet Malcolm’s wonderful essay on Bloomsbury and ‘the spirit of industry’ that still resides in houses like Charleston. These places speak, Malcolm says, ‘of the values by which Chekov’s good characters are ruled; patient, habitual work and sensible, calm behaviour’. That spirit rules in Church Cottage. You cannot fail to feel its benevolent influence.’
Victoria Kelley, social historian, April 1017 ‘I stayed only two weeks but worked productuively on my forthcoming book about London’s past street markets. I return home refreshed to my two half-time academic roles with 50,000 words achieved.’
Nadia Fall, playwright, April 2017. ‘I achieved more in the one week I was able to take away from London than I would have done in a month at home. I worked on a commission from the National Theatre for a new play based on interviews I carried out on a recent trip to the middle east and the Cottage prvided a much needed haven’…I especially loved the secret river at the bottom of the patchwork of back gardens.’.
Solitaire Townsend, ‘Before my residency (January 2017) I was in four different countries over a five week period, and arrived at Church Cottage with only 40,000 words of a non-fiction book about living in a sustainable manner, as it could be read by a non-specialist audience. I left having achieved a 62,000 complete manuscript which the quiet of the Cottage had allowed me to achieve.’
Jill Dawson, novelist, contributing to the commissioned anthology ‘Kiss and Part’ July 2017, ‘During my first visit I completed my story for the Kiss and Part antholigy; during my second visit in July, I worked on my new novel; the uninterrupted routine at the Cottage
restored my equilibrium and advanced the novel by 10,000 words. My thanks to you all.’
Chino Odimba, playwright. 20th-31st July, 2020
Maggie Gee, novelist, contributing to the commissioned anthology ‘Kiss and Part’ August 2017
Jessica Mehta, Writing at home in Oregon. Jessica Mehta from USA, resident and also Shakespeare Birthplace Trust poetry festival appointment June 2017.
“Six attractive aspects of HHT led me to apply for a residency: Quiet and solitude/ Greenery in a new location/ Simplicity/ No constricing requirements/ A flexible timetable/ no financial contribution from the writer but instead a generous bursary. All these were fulfilled and the trust is unique in such provision”
Jessica Mehta, Yoga exercise on Church Cottage garden wall, against St Helen’s churchyard
Jessica Mehta, presented as an Indian bride
Jessica Mehta, presented as a Cherokee native American (my father’s tribe)
Jessica Mehta, Yoga exercise in front of the Taj Mahal
Jessica Mehta, Portrait in Church Cottage garden
Joan Bakewell (resident 2014)
Quotation from the opening of Stop the Clocks: Thoughts on what I leave behind
(Virago 2016) which was largely written at Church Cottage.
In the middle of old age I find myself in a small cottage.
No more than two rooms: a latch opens the door into a tiny entrance then directly into the lower room…. Just straight into the one room- there is no other. This is for eating, working, living…..So, open the door and come in.
Inside is the creation of a woman of country taste, a woman who obviously takes time, who pays attention to detail, who is not in a hurry. The room is no bigger than a small study. And that is exactly what it is. Along one wall extend allt he facilites a writer needs: a desk, rows of electric sockets, a CD player and radio, a television set, a router and a printer. This working space is tucked beneath the slop of the stairs which in turn supports a set of narrow shelves for paperclips, stationery, a jar of pens, a torch. It is all I need.
Central to the room is an elegant round table and two Edwardian chairs. And beyond, a series of cupboards with pine doors and drawers that open to reveal a fridge, pots and pans, tablecloths, rolls of silver foil,,,the active components of good and easy cooking. Walls front and back have leaded windows opening onto beds of daffodils: crowded below, a comfy sofa, cushions, standard lamp, all nudging up to a small wood-burning stove and a display of sepia family photographs. The whole is an exercise in minimal space with all anyone could need. And if it has a feel of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle about it that’s appropriate because in the single upstairs room is a full set of Beatrix Potter’s little books, their box-set cunningly pinned to the wall of a large cupboard that conceals the lavatory. Such economy of space leaves room for a large, tall and wide ned heaped with pillows and a duvet in the William Morris fabrics that feature elsewhere. Under the window is a free-standing bath.
Here I shall stay….and set out my pages. There won’t be time for more.
Kitty Fitzgerald in front of Trust House’ gate, November 2012
Quincy Whitney (from USA) at Church Cottage bedroom window, June 2013
Teresa Howard in Church Cottage working on lyrical ideas for her new musical play, October 2014
Patti Gaal-Holmes, with Lily in Church Cottage garden, September 2014
‘With my co-writer, Emily Barker we worked on ideas for the
film’s sound track after a row on the river.
The peaceful environment provides a calm inspiring space to work in
and a much needed opportunity to escape into splendid isolation
without any commitments other than completing my book’.
Patti Gaal-Holmes on the Stour riverbank during her second residency summer 2015
Kapka Kassabova (SBT Poetry Festival appointment) beside Church Cottage gate,
August 2012
Jan Dunn with her dog in nearby fields, February 2011
Elizabeth Speller – Resident
Elizabeth Speller with Paul Edmondson (chair) outside Church Cottage’s onetime garden privy, now the washhouse, March 2008
Jinny Webber (from USA) at Church Cottage, July 2014
‘There are many lovely touches: a well stocked (and unusual) library,
attractive and useful furnishings (an excellent office chair)’
Wendy Cope, poet, SBT poet in residence appointment, summer 2013 : IN MEMORY OF MAX ADRIAN 1903-1973
It’s sad to think the actor never knew
About the teenage girl who saw him play
In As You Like It long ago and who
Can still recall his face and voice today:
His Jaques dignified, aloof and dry –
No bellowing, no sawing of the air,
Nothing that could offend the author’s eye
Or ear, if you imagined he was there.
More than fifty years have passed since then
But when I read the text it’s him I see,
And when I watch it on the stage again
Jaques doesn’t stand a chance with me.
Max nailed the part and no-one else will do.
And that, it’s possible to hope, he knew.
Jo Bell (SBT Poetry Festival appointment), swimming with Daisy in the River Stour, August 2014
Jo Bell and Daisy
Jo Bell
Jo Bell
Jo Bell
Jo Bell
Curious, Helen Paris and Leslie Hill (a performance partnership) a RSC appointment.
Both of them in the garden, June 2011
‘An amazing opportunity for an artist: it allows creativity
to take its own forms, to shapeshift to fit the needs and
medium of the resident without any sort of restriction or agenda’
http://www.placelessness.com/
In St Helen’s churchyard, July 2009
In St Helen’s churchyard, July 2009
In St Helen’s churchyard, July 2009
In St Helen’s churchyard, July 2009
In St Helen’s churchyard, July 2009
The Trust sometimes mounts an event in St Helen’s Church for local involvement and interest. In December 2014, Salley Vickers (author of Miss Garnet’s Angel ) who had been in residence, gave a talk entitled ‘Angels Fly because they take themselves lightly’ G.K. Chesterton.
The church was full and lit by two hundred candles while a young harpist (Ciara Willson) was dressed as an angel to play as we assembled.
Salley Vickers
Salley Vickers
Salley Vickers
Salley Vickers
Salley Vickers
Anjum Malik in Trust House garden with Sarah Hosking, July-August 2010
Lara Platman beside the river, September-October 2010
Anna Shechenko at Church Cottage, May-June 2010
Natasha Davis in the Square, May-June 2012
‘Towards the end of my residency I was successful with my
application for a large grant from Arts Council England to
create Internal Terrains – the piece I was working on at
Church Cottage – so that it will be seen in multiple venues’
https://vimeo.com/63103389
Natasha Davis, ‘My residency May/June 2017 was my second visit and you asked me for suggestions on how to improve the Cottage. I cannot think of anything it lacks….but during this stay I bought a new picnic blanket that I have only used twice, so I am leaving it in the Cottage as my modest contribution to its perfect collection of beautifully designed items.’
Jane Hill, art historian, summer 2008
Anita Mason, novelist, summer 2011
Ruth Thomas, novelist, spring 2010
Sarah Burton, biographer and novelist, autumn 2008
Helen Stanton, theologian, autumn 2011
Ellen Phethean, poet/playwright, winter 2016
Martine Bailey, novelist: November/December 2013
‘comfort, warmth, wi-fi and printer:
all the essentials for the task in hand’
Susannah Pickering, poet/playwright, autumn 2015
‘It has enabled me to make the most of this commissioning opportunity’
‘It has been a much needed boost to my confidence’
Louise Foxcroft, medical/social historian, summer 2008
Gill Plain, literary/film historian, spring 2011
Elspeth Sandys, novelist; from New Zealand, she was one of the first HHT residents during 2005/6
Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, yoga writer, summer 2011
‘I was very touched by the evident love and thoughtful
attention to detail that made it so welcoming.
I arrived in July with a muddle of forty thousand words.
By the time I left in December I had over one hundred
thousand words of cracking prose.’
http://www.yonishakti.co/
Helena McEwen, novelist/painter, autumn and winter 2015/16
‘The light and spaciousness of the planned extension
will be a wonderful addition.’
‘It is wonderful to have Shakespeare on the doorstep!’
Cindy Lynn-Brown, poet from Denmark, SBT poet in residence appointment, autumn 2016
Cindy Lynn-Brown, poet from Denmark, SBT poet in residence appointment, autumn 2016
Sally Goldsmith, poet, SBT poet in residence, summer 2015
‘I managed to write a sequence of twenty poems inspired
by a visit to Mary Arden’s farm’
‘The bedroom was my favourite room – the enormous iron bath
to lie out in, the view of the church and the churchyard,
the iron beams, the vase of roses on the windowsill..’
Jackie Bennett, garden historian, spring 2015 – in the Spring Garden at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, Shottery March 2015
Maria McCann, novelist, contributing to the commissioned anthology ‘Kiss and Part’ February 2017
We welcome pets which so far have been domestic animals such as these, but we can arrange stabling if required.
