The changing face of Budleigh,1: Steamer Steps
My friend Annie who tends to collect anything connected with Budleigh's history recently bought this watercolour painting of the beach and cliffs near Steamer Steps. It's dated 1868 on the back, and we tracked down the artist from the scribbled name next to it as Arthur Wyatt Edgell (1837-1911). Colonel Edgell, as he turned out to be, was not only a keen painter but also a Justice of the Peace for Devon. He was sent to Eton in 1849 before studying at Trinity College, Cambridge. He then entered the Army, joining the Prince of Wales' Hussars in 1860, ending up as Lieutenant-Colonel in the Devon Artillery Volunteers. He was also a keen geologist, becoming a Fellow of the Geological Society. He lived at Cowley Place in Exeter, and visited Budleigh to paint the cliffs because of his interest in the fossils, notably the Lamellibranchs or molluscs found within the pebblebeds of the town's beach. An article that he wrote on the subject was published in the Quarterly Journal of ...