Haymaking near Haslemere, Surrey

It is often said that Birket Foster paints an idealised picture of country life. It is true that the reality was often much harsher and less picturesque, but Birket Foster's paintings, though undoubtedly idealised, were not merely escapist. They have an underlying seriousness of purpose in that he was attempting to record a way of life and a type of vernacular architecture that were disappearing even as he painted. Viewed in this light, Birket Foster's paintings may be seen as part of the current movement to protect the countryside and the architectural heritage, a movement epitomised by the foundation of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in 1877 and of the National Trust in 1895. Others who were closely involved with these developments included Ruskin, William Morris, Tennyson, Carlyle, Octavia Hill and Gertrude Jekyll.