The Bloomsbury set

The Bloomsbury set were a group of ground breaking liberal British artists and intellectuals who came together in the London suburb of the same names in the years before World War 1.

They included writers ,  Virginia Woolf and EM Forster and artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. Most had attended Cambridge University and were known for their pacifist anti war beliefs and liberal sexual attitudes.

Influenced by the arts and crafts movement and the post impressionist movement in France ,some of their most innovative work can be found at the country house of Charleston ,in the English county of Sussex , where Bell and Grant moved to pursue their work just as World War 1 broke out .

After the war they hosted famous visitors  at the house such as Bell’s  sister, Virginia Woolf, Poet  TS Elliot and economist John Maynard Keynes .

It’s possible to visit this extraordinary house and see it’s unique collection of artworks by booking guided tours in advance .