This is not a realistic image but what the artist described as ‘my dream of the ideal Malmesbury of my imagination’. Elements of the town can readily be made out such as the Abbey and the Chapel at Cowage farm (on the south-west edge of the town).
Robin Tanner (1904 – 1988) lived most of his life in Kington Langley about eight miles south of Malmesbury.
He played a major part in the revival of etchings, but unfortunately this was not enough to keep the wolf from the door and he spent nearly 30 years as Her Majesty’s Inspector of Schools. His most notable work was done for the book, a Wiltshire Village; this was a joint venture with his wife, Heather Sprackman, who wrote the text. They were married in 1931.
