GRASMERE, CUMBRIA.- One of the finest collections of early British watercolours, full of unsuspected treasures, is to be put on public display for the first time in Grasmere from 14th July. Gainsborough to Turner: British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection will go on show at the Wordsworth Trust's Wordsworth Museum in Grasmere until 25th October 2005.

This distinguished collection of remarkable British watercolours was built up by Yorkshire industrialist William Wycliffe Spooner (1882-1967) whose family once owned How Foot Lodge, just a hundred yards from Dove Cottage, now run as a guesthouse.

His scholarly collecting continued for over 50 years and, on his death in 1967, he bequeathed the collection to the Courtauld Institute of Art in London where it has been ever since.

Although individual items have been loaned, this will be the first time that the entire collection has been on display since its accession exhibition in 1968. Gainsborough to Turner: British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection is a collaboration between the Wordsworth Trust, the Huntington Library in California where the exhibition was shown this Spring, and the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery where the exhibition will also be on view from 17th November 2005 to 12th February 2006.

There are over 40 artists represented in the collection including JR Cozens, JMW Turner, Thomas Gainsborough, Thomas Girtin, Peter De Wint and Samuel Palmer.

Dr Robert Woof, director of the Wordsworth Trust, commented: "They are great examples of a private collection of British watercolours made by a family with long-standing connections to the Lake District. It shows what private patronage once did for the arts. British watercolours are a key strength for the Wordsworth Trust and these have been at the Courtauld since 1967 so we felt it was time for an exploration of them."

Two well-known Lake District works in the collection are John Abbott White's Lake District drawings: Thirlmere and Skiddaw and Borrowdale and Derwentwater. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue which has been written collaboratively by the institutions and designed at the Wordsworth Trust.

William Spooner was the only son of the Rev W A Spooner (1844-1930) who was a scholar, fellow, dean and warden of New College, Oxford, where he devoted 62 years of his life. Rev Spooner is sometimes better known for his Spoonerisms although his family has denied the most noteworthy.

William Spooner was an innovative engineer, having graduated from Trinity College in Cambridge. He established engineering companies concerned with the drying of textiles, paper, plastics and board as well as the baking of bread and confectionery.

A great lover of the Lake District, Spooner even took part in the Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling at Grasmere Sports. His father and mother are both buried in Grasmere.