FLATFORD Mill is celebrating the 200th anniversary of John Constable’s iconic landscape painting The Hay Wain.

The painting can be found at The National Gallery, but visitors flock to The National Trust’s Flatford, on the River Stour near Dedham, to see the view which inspired the renowned artist’s 1821 work.

Many of Constable’s landscapes were painted from the idyllic countryside of the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which surrounds Flatford, where Constable spent his childhood and early life.

To celebrate the bicentenary of the painting, the National Trust is working with the Essex Cultural Diversity Project and has commissioned a creative project which celebrates the anniversary by connecting visitors with Constable and countryside.

The successful artists have been announced as Laurence Harding and Liz Harrington, photographic artists specialising in experimental and historic photography processes.

Over the summer, the artists will work at Flatford to create an immersive and interactive installation which explores the parallels between photography and painting and celebrates the idyllic views which inspired Constable.

Simon Peachey, manager at Flatford, said: “What impressed us most was their idea to celebrate the Hay Wain through the use of sustainable photographic techniques.

“In addition, their enthusiasm to share their work with visitors and engage new audiences should ensure as many people as possible discover more about The Hay Wain”.

The finished piece will evolve over the summer and will be made up of floor to ceiling cyanotype - a photographic printing process which produces cyan-blue prints - panels inspired by the landscape, photographs taken using pinhole cameras and smaller pieces created using a range of other historical and experimental photographic techniques.

For more information, go to nationaltrust.org.uk/flatford/features/hay-wain-200-a-bigger-canvas.