'A LITTLE piece of history' has returned to its Herefordshire roots in the form of a Victorian watercolour that has spent 40 years in foreign climes.

The painting of Harley House in Hereford was originally bought at a sale at the residence in 1958 and found its way to Cambridge where it caught the eye of American management engineer, Alexander Parvin in 1963.

Mr Parvin lived in the UK and served at RAF Lakenheath for three years before returning to California and taking the painting with him.

He said: "I love it because it is like a snap shot of English genteel life, a conversational piece in my house and I get a great deal of pleasure from it."

After some research with the help of a note on the back of the painting, Mr Parvin discovered that the house was the property of Dr Henry Graves Bull.

The founder member of the Hereford Medical Association set up his own practice in the city but probably his greatest achievement was in pomology - apple lore.

He became interested in local varieties of apple and proposed the production of an authoritative publication resulting in two volumes entitled 'The Herefordshire Pomona'.

Within the volumes, Dr Robert Hogg wrote the descriptions while Dr Bull's daughter, Edith and a Miss Ellis painted 76 plates representing 432 apples and pears.

It was presumably Miss Ellis who also painted the watercolour in the late 19th century that most likely features the ladies of the house relaxing in the grounds with their beloved pets.

A sharp contrast to some 20 years later, when during the First World War the ladies' dachshunds were put to sleep after being kicked and stoned in the Hereford streets after the public's perception was that such dogs were 'bayoneting babes in Brussels'.

Now after nearly 40 years in his possession, Mr Parvin made the decision to part with the painting but prefers to bring it back to the county in which it belongs rather than to sell it elsewhere.

He said: "The picture is a bit of history and I feel very sentimental but I can't live in the past all my life!"

The painting will form part of an auction of Fine Art and Antiques organised by Sunderlands on July 27.

For further information contact Mr Traynor at Sunderlands on 01432 266894.