It has become apparent recently that the Gallery's collection is rich in works of art relating to buildings and architecture – evidently an area of ongoing interest for past collector donors and curators. An impressive work bequeathed to the Gallery in 1965 by the prominent Christchurch architect Heathcote Helmore (1894-1965) is a study of the main entrance to the Cathedral of St Peter in Regensburg, by the leading English watercolourist Samuel Prout (1783-1852). If we're seeking grand designs, the painting is a treasure.

Dig further into the collection, and we find another lovely architectural study by Samuel Prout – a more modest, lithographic work depicting a crumbling hovel on Dartmoor – and the very opposite of European Gothic architectural ambition. I wonder if its inhabitants minded being picturesque – or if they'd sought proper planning permission.