Flatford Mill
The lock and mill at Flatford on the River Stour in Suffolk — the buildings survive, cared for by the National Trust.
Flatford Mill
The painting shows a real, identified place that you can find today. The exact spot the artist worked from is not necessarily known.
Flatford Mill — at a glance
- Artist
- John Constable (1776–1837)
- Year
- 1816–1817
- Movement
- English Romantic landscape
- Place
- Flatford, on the River Stour, Suffolk, England
- Viewpoint
- The lock below Flatford Mill — the mill, lock and cottages survive (National Trust)
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- c. 102 × 127 cm
- Now at
- Tate Britain, London
Overview
Flatford Mill is the first of the large six-foot canvases with which John Constable set out to make ordinary English working country the subject of serious landscape. Painted in 1816–17, it shows a bend of the River Stour at Flatford: a boy on a barge horse pauses at the lock while a bargeman works the tow-rope, willows and elms lean over the water, and the mill and its cottages sit among the trees at the right. It is oil on canvas, about 102 by 127 cm, and it hangs in Tate Britain, London.
Where was Flatford Mill painted?
Scholarship Flatford is a hamlet on the River Stour, which divides Suffolk from Essex, near East Bergholt where Constable was born. His father, a prosperous miller, owned Flatford Mill and Dedham Mill on the river. Flatford Mill, the adjoining lock, Willy Lott's Cottage (seen in ‘The Hay Wain’) and Bridge Cottage all still stand and are owned by the National Trust; the stretch of river is managed as ‘Constable Country’, and the view can be matched closely allowing for the growth of trees.
What is in the painting?
In the foreground, the Stour widens at the lock; a barge is moored, its tow-horse and a boy at the near bank, a man leaning on the lock beam. Tall trees fill the left and centre, their reflections in the still water; a footbridge crosses in the middle distance; the mill buildings and a cottage show among foliage at the right, and beyond, flat meadows and a wide sky.
Look closely
The barge horse and boy
A boy pauses with the tow-horse on the near bank while the barge is worked through the lock.
The lock beam
A man leans on the wooden beam of the Flatford lock, which still stands.
The mill among the trees
The brick mill buildings and a cottage show through the foliage at the right.
Constable's white flecks
Small dabs of pure white on ripples, leaves and harness keep the light restless.
Analysis
Composition and technique
The river leads back from the lock and barge in the foreground, framed by heavy trees, to the mill and open meadows.
Scholarship Constable builds the picture from oil sketches made on the spot, but composed it carefully in the studio: the diagonal of the towpath and river carries the eye in from the lower right, the trees frame and darken the left, the mill and sky open the distance. The finish is detailed and the light that of a bright summer afternoon.
Colour and light
Deep summer greens and brown water under a large sky of white and grey cloud, flecked with Constable's bright highlights.
The palette is full, warm green — many shades of leaf and meadow — with brown river, warm brick on the mill, and a moving cloudy sky. Small touches of pure white on ripples, foliage and harness keep the surface alive.
History & provenance
The painting stayed with Constable's family and was given to the nation by his daughter Isabel in 1888; it is held by Tate and shown at Tate Britain, London.
Sources
- Tate — collection entry for John Constable, ‘Flatford Mill (Scene on a Navigable River)’ (1816–17; oil on canvas, c. 102 × 127 cm)
- National Trust — Flatford: Constable Country
Frequently asked
Where is Flatford Mill?
At Flatford, a hamlet on the River Stour on the Suffolk–Essex border, near East Bergholt where Constable was born. His father owned the mill.
Can you visit it?
Yes. Flatford Mill, its lock, Willy Lott's Cottage and Bridge Cottage all still stand and are owned by the National Trust; the area is managed as ‘Constable Country’ and the view can be matched closely, allowing for tree growth.
Why is this painting important?
It is the first of Constable's large ‘six-footers’ — the pictures with which he argued that ordinary English working countryside deserved the scale and seriousness of grand landscape.
What is happening at the lock?
A barge is being worked through: a boy tends the tow-horse on the bank while a man leans on the lock beam. The Stour was a busy navigation for the mills.
Where is the painting now?
It belongs to Tate and is normally shown at Tate Britain, London.
Related paintings
More by John Constable
The Hay Wain
Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds
