Home of the Bloomsbury Group Launches £15m Fundraising Drive Backed by Family of Vanessa Bell

Supporters of Charleston, the modernist home that became a gathering point for members of the Bloomsbury Group—some of the early 20th century’s most radical and celebrated artists, philosophers and writers—have kicked off a £15 million fundraising campaign to secure the building’s future. 

The house and studio, near Firle in south-east England, was home to the painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant (and, at times, Bell’s husband and Grant’s partner) and was originally constructed in 1925. The campaign to provide financial security for the house has begun with a £1 million gift from Virginia Nicholson, Bell’s granddaughter, and her husband William. A further £2 million has been pledged in the wills of other supporters. 

Chair of trustees Dame Pippa Harrison said: “I am incredibly grateful to Virginia and William Nicholson, and our circle of legacy donors, for leading the charge to save Charleston in perpetuity through the establishment of a permanent endowment. 

“During the pandemic 2,673 people came to Charleston’s rescue—and now we are asking for those with deep pockets to come together to ensure that we have the £15m required to ensure Charleston is never at risk again.” 

Visitor numbers to Charleston have increased during recent years, reaching more than 123,000 in 2025. However, the building is in need of repairs, and sources of funding have been unstable—a problem that rose to the surface when it was forced to close during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Charleston Trust director and chief executive Nathaniel Hepburn said: “Charleston is now widely celebrated as a jewel in the cultural crown of the UK and was recently recognised as a collection of national and international significance by the Arts Council. 

“As we head towards the 50th anniversary of when a charity was formed to save Charleston in 1980, we know that a permanent endowment is the only way to ensure that—whatever challenges face the charity in the next 50 years—it will be safe for generations to come.” 

The Bloomsbury Group was active during the early 20th century; in addition to Bell and Grant, members included Virginia Woolf (Vanessa Bell’s sister), John Maynard Keynes, EM Forster, Lytton Strachey, Roger Fry and Clive Bell. 

The group rejected the bourgeois social conventions of post-Victorian society, and artists in the group railed against traditional distinctions between fine and decorative art. Their ideas and works influenced attitudes and approaches to economics, literature, criticism, feminism, sexuality and aesthetics. 

Earlier this week, a pen-and-biro portrait, believed to be the final depiction of Bell, came to light when it was gifted to Charleston by an anonymous donor. The work, which was made by Grant in 1961, was unearthed during preparations for an exhibition about the couple, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant: Inside Bloomsbury, which opens at Tate Britain on 12 November. The show, which features more than 300 works, also includes a restaging of the artists’ studio, relocated from Charleston.