East Mersea Church - painting by a "well known artist", done whilst he was at East Mersea on military service. It is thought this was reproduced postcard size in The Independent newspaper about around 2000.
April 2010, the following information came from the V&A Museum.
This painting is by Rex Whistler (1905-1944), oil on canvas board, 23.5 x 31.3 cm. It is inscribed on the back: 'East Mersea Church June 9th 1940' and '1st painting done in the Army. from Colchester Roman Way.'
Catalogue no. 136 in the recent exhibition catalogue by Stephen Calloway, Rex Whistler: the Triumph of Fancy, Brighton, 2006.

Rex Whistler was an art school friend of Jill Greenwood, who was on her honeymoon at Mersea at the time with Tony Greenwood. Tony's father Arthur Greenwood had Old Ship Cottage at East Mersea. Rosemary Kimmel née Cotter was a granddaughter of Arthur and she remembers riding on her bike with Rex Whistler to East Mersea Church. She had a long wait while he did the painting. On the way back Rex got the painting caught in the wheel of his bicycle [Rosemary Kimmel]

Rex Whistler was in the Army in Colchester at the time of this painting. He was killed 18 July 1944 at Caen in Normandy.

From Jacqui Chadwick May 2012
My husband and I have just seen the original of this in Plas Newydd Country House, a National Trust property in Angelsey, where they have a large selection of paintings by Rex Whistler.

Date: 9 June 1940