Cecil Beaton. A Family Archive.

Cecil Beaton. A Family Archive. Presented by Gladstone’s Luxury Dry Goods and Glen Dye Cabins and Cottages.

Sir Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) was a photographer, costume designer, illustrator, diarist, set designer, three times Oscar winner, celebrity and interior designer. He was my great uncle; his beloved sister Baba, who was his muse and constant best friend, was my grandmother. Cecil was great friends with my parents and an important and inspiring figure in my childhood, showing me that my career could be one of creativity.

I inherited a vast trove of Cecil’s work, much of which had been piled into cupboards at my home in Wales. There are paintings, photos, scrapbooks, pieces of clothing, homewares, photo albums, notes and more. 

Until I started to explore it in detail in 2024 much of this stuff hadn’t been touched for decades. Sorting through the treasure trove gave me a vivid insight into Cecil’s early life; his relationship with his family, his early friends, his first home and so on. 

Sure, this collection is important because it hadn’t been seen in public before, but more crucially because it offered an alternative, private view of a very public figure. This, I assume, is the only collection of its kind in the world.

I compiled albums, I had photos scanned and framed, I slowly started to make sense of chaotic piles of notes and drawings. 

And then in 2025 we launched our exhibition, Cecil Beaton. A Family Archive on our estate at Hawarden in North Wales. This was a low-key exhibition which deliberately shied away from trying to emulate the other impersonal blockbuster shows that Cecil’s work normally merits. Working with a renowned curator I tried to imagine what an exhibition might look like in a private home. 

What ensued was a much greater level of interest than I anticipated, from across the world.

Now we are bringing a big part of the contents of this show to Glen Dye to exhibit across various properties on the estate. There will be family albums, rare photos, scrapbooks, clothing, paintings, homewares and more, all shown in a relaxed, casual environment. Some parts of the show will be available to view by anyone by appointment, and some will only be seen by our residential guests.

We are launching the show with a party and private viewing at Glen Dye on Thursday 15th October. This will be a special evening with a lecture by Hugo Vickers, who is Cecil’s official biographer and the global authority on his work, as well as his literary executor (my dad was the executor of the rest of his estate). 

There will be drinks and a private view and if you book to stay with us your stay will include a simple dinner with Hugo after the event.

You are invited.

The drinks, private view and lecture are free.

RSVP: adventure@glendyecabinsandcottages.com