Desig House: The January Issue

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Our January issue is out. Let our editor Hatta Byng talk you through the highlights...

I'm not sure I'd be writing this letter if it wasn't for my art history A level. OK, I admit I was unlikely to have ended up as an accountant or a music teacher (I can't sing a note), but it was art history that truly opened my eyes as a teenager - so much more than the so-called 'hard subjects' - and set me on my course to where I am now. It taught me to look at and interpret a work of art; to engage in and enjoy art's mix of history, literature, religion, social history and more; and to learn and appreciate so much about the artists and their work. It took us out of the classroom, too, on visits to houses and galleries, introducing us to the richness of the visual world.

So it was with immense sadness I heard the news that art history is being scrapped as an A level. While I suspect it may largely be the privilege of the public-school educated and no university is threatening to stop it as a degree, it seems a narrow-minded decision. There is no reason why such an important subject should be the preserve of the privileged. It is a subject that 'should be much better known and not denigrated', as Professor Deborah Swallow, director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, wrote in a letter to The Guardian. 'The definition of art history as a "soft subject" seriously misunderstands a subject that is enormously important to the economy, culture and well-being of this country,' she writes. 'Every pound spent on art education brings disproportionately large returns,' wrote artist Cornelia Parker in another Guardian article. 'We should be widening our cultural knowledge, not shrinking it.' Note that the artistic director of Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, interviewed on page 42, actively sought out a course at an adult-education centre when his school didn't offer art history as an A level. He went on to get a masters in the subject, as did I. Several of our team have an art history A level to their name, including our arts editor, Emily Tobin. Would I have chosen it for my degree course, and committed to four years of a subject I'd never tried before, without the A level whetting my appetite? I doubt it.

Indeed, one of my outings as an A-level student was to Bath, to take in the magnificence of the town planning of John Wood the Elder and Younger. For this issue, I was back in Bath, in a house that was built in 1748 as part of John Wood the Elder's scheme (from page 94). It felt good to delve into my memory to recall what I'd learnt more than 20 years ago. I sincerely hope that in another 15 years' time, art history will be back on the list of options for my children; in this tricky world, as Cornelia Parker writes, 'we shouldn't be cutting back their options to have a visually enriched and creative future'.

For now, I'm looking forward to spending Christmas with my children and we have plenty in this issue to help and inspire your last-minute Christmas preparations: Emma Bridgewater's idyllic set-up in Oxfordshire decorated for Christmas (from page 61); glasses for every budget - perfect for entertaining or presents (page 26); a selection of present-worthy books for the last-minute shopper (pages 44-45); and an insight into the world of the mistletoe harvesters (pages 36-37).

Don't want to go to the shops? Download House & Garden on your iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire or Android device now or subscribe today.