New nursery rhyme tile panels from the War Memorial Hospital on display at The Spring

Many visitors to The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre have been delighted to see a selection of tile panels from the old Havant War Memorial Hospital on display in the Oyster Room, after The Spring played host to the entire collection of panels in autumn 2013.

The tiles depict a series of nursery rhymes in beautiful pastel colours, and those now on display tell the stories of Old King Cole and Old Mother Hubbard. The story of the tiles began in 1935, when Royal Doulton artist William Rowe was asked to design ten panels depicting well-loved nursery thymes, to cheer up the young patients in the King George V Children's Jubilee Ward. Even adults who were later nursed in the former children’s ward have recalled how they derived pleasure from looking at them. Each panel was made up of 24 tiles, with one bearing the signature ‘WR Doulton Lambeth’.

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