Unseen sketches by an acclaimed Fenland artist, showing the devastation caused by one of the region’s worst 19th-century natural disasters, are among the highlights of Hansons Norfolk’s upcoming sale.
By the King’s Lynn artist Henry Baines (1823–1894), they show scenes from the Great Floods of the Fens in 1862, when heavy rain and a sluice failure turned areas around Ely, March and Chatteris into an inland sea.
The set of 12 sketches, expected to sell for £1,500-£2,000, depict submerged churches, farms marooned by rising waters and acres of farmland underwater.
The gallery includes the Church of Saint Germans, in Wiggenhall, Mr Baggs Farm of Tilney Fen End, near Wisbech, and The Wheatsheaf Inn (now a Wetherspoons pub in the town).
The flood saw sheep and cattle drown in low grazing areas, while more stranded livestock died from exposure or lack of food.
One of Baines’ sketches even shows a man using a boat to navigate the local terrain after roads were made impassable by floodwater.
Kevin Lines, associate director at Hansons’ Norfolk saleroom, where the sketches go under the hammer on April 24, said: “At the time of the flood, Baines would have been about 40 years old and at the height of his artistic powers. He had an extraordinary ability to capture not just the landscape, but the feeling of the Fens. These sketches will be of great interest not only to collectors of Baines’ work but local historians.”
Henry Baines was the younger brother of the celebrated artist Thomas Baines (1820-1875), known for his paintings and drawings produced on expeditions to Australia and, Southern Africa.
On his return to England in 1857, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and in 1858 he joined David Livingstone’s Zambezi Expedition, as an artist.
After training in London and Europe, Harry Baines returned to King’s Lynn setting up an art academy.
Kevin Lines, an expert in East Anglian art, continued: “Henry lived all his life in the shadow of his older brother but was in fact the far the better painter of the two.”
Today his oil paintings of East Anglian landscapes, coastal scenes and local towns are selling for thousands.
The King’s Lynn Museum holds a large collection of his sketches and watercolours as well as paintings, many of which were included in the exhibition of his work held after his death in 1894.
Though not as devastating as the famous flood of 1947, the effects lasted for months with thousands of waterlogged acres made unfit for agriculture
Poor drainage was blamed for the disaster forcing a sluice to break after a winter of heavy rain. The sketches are accompanied by handwritten annotations by the artists from the early 1860s.
Auction Details
Auction: Hansons Norfolk Antiques & Interiors Auction: including The Captains Cabinet – Maritime & Maps
Auction date: 24th April 2026 | 10am
Location: Hansons’ Norfolk Saleroom
Auction contact: [email protected]
Catalogue/bidding: www.hansonslive.co.uk | www.the-saleroom.com
