Richard Adams' summer show this year takes as its central theme the mansion;  country, city, life below stairs, life above, in its heyday and in disrepair.

Adams' enjoyment of depicting the mansion house is clear, particularly in Stonehouse where the soft stone blends into the verdant garden. But it is not just the buildings which fascinate him, as ever the characters which populate these images are central to the story whether they lend themselves to nostalgia as in Whispering Towers or to fantasy as the fallen angel seeking refuge in Shelter of the Village or sheer enjoyment as the ladies in Tiffin, excitable with the prospect of the spread before them.

The more you look the more you see and the rich subject matter has only just been skimmed by Adams, he plans to pursue more fantastical stories of the country pile in his autumn showing at Combe House.