Gordon's World

On the 20th anniversary of his death, Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust explores the work of nature artist Gordon Beningfield and the Hertfordshire landscapes he treasured.

- Emma Norrington

Gordon Beningfield was one of Britain’s most talented wildlife and countryside artists and a great supporter of Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.

Gordon grew up in East London where his father was a lighterman on the Thames. During the Second World War the family was evacuated to rural Hertfordshire, a place Gordon would come to love.

Gordon’s skill with paint and pencil was soon recognised by his teachers, and his father encouraged him to take up an apprenticeship at ecclesiastical art restoration company Faithcraft in St Albans. Here he excelled at carving, gilding, painting and sketching, going on to be considered by many as the finest glass engraver of his generation.

In 1958 Gordon married and settled first in Redbourn and later at nearby Water End. It was here in the Herts countryside on the edge of the Chilterns that he continued to perfect his craft through careful observation of the wildlife around him. Gordon was a countryman at heart and the countryside and its wild inhabitants were often the subject of his paintings and drawings.