Michael Rothenstein lived in the village of Great Bardfield, Essex, from the late 1930s; the village became something of an artists' colony, with other residents including the Neo-romantic artists Edward Bawden, Eric Ravilious and Kenneth Rowntree. Gibraltar Tower Mill, the oldest (c. 1660), and one of the largest and finest tower mills in Essex, dominates its surroundings. The mill's working life ended in 1930, and in this 1943 watercolour, signs of dilapidation are apparent. However, it was one of the county's relatively few windmills to have escaped total dereliction following the war, being converted into a private house in 1957.
