John Taylor Arms clearly agreed with the many artists and tourists of then (including Lucien Pisarro) and now who claimed Finchingfield, Essex, England as the most picturesque rural village in England. Here, he has rendered it with as much care as a portraitist. Shown is the shallow ascent of the village toward the crown of St. John the Baptist Church, a Norman structure dating to 1170; at the village’s feet, a mirror-flat duck pond reflecting the Georgian and medieval houses lining the town green. In this second image from the English Series, Arms captures the most minute details in both the village and its reflection, down to the weathered wooden boards of the shed in the lower left. This image garnered Arms five awards between 1939 and 1941.
Today, Finchingfield looks much the same save for improved roads and new road markers. It remains a tourist destination and is a stop along the Dunwich Dynamo, a 112-mile nocturnal bike race that takes place on the full moon of July.