THE widow of a talented artist whose paintings of Colchester won him national acclaim has said he would be horrified if one of his favourite landscapes was destroyed under military plans.

The Ministry of Defence has announced it is to sell its Army training ground at Middlewick Ranges to make way for hundreds of homes.

But the reallocation of Army resources could have a knock-on effect to other MoD sites in Colchester, including Friday Woods after the results of a consultation are collected.

Pearl Burton's late husband Bill often painted Friday Woods and one of them was a top ten seller by printer Solomon and Whitehead in the 1960s.

Mrs Burton, 93, said: "If my husband Bill was still alive he would be horrified to think the lovely Friday Wood that he painted so often was to be destroyed.

"Thank goodness there are quite a few of his paintings around and I have the original one that was in the top ten prints during the late sixties.

"Please don't let Friday Wood be destroyed for a few houses."

His top selling 'Friday Wood' was painted in 1967 and sold numerous copies all over the country.

Mrs Burton met her husband at the Garrison where she worked as a secretary and he was a clerk.

She said: "It was not far from Friday Woods and he used to go and walk around there and loved it.

"Friday Woods was so beautiful."

Mr Burton used to photograph his landscapes and then use them to influence his paintings along with his memory.

He was an oil painter who mainly depicted English marine and landscape.

Mr Burton spent a year in Australia in1964, perfecting his technique before becoming a professional and commercially successful artist in the early sixties after retiring.

Mrs Burton said: "He was a professional painter, he could paint anything, portraits, seascapes, but his favourite were the woods and Mersea."

He drew inspiration for his work largely from his rural Norfolk upbringing and his adopted home county of Essex.

Mr Burton, who was self-taught, is best remembered for his depictions of golden oyster beds and 'Turneresque' skies, his most renowned work reproduced in 1965 is ‘Evening Gold’.

He died in 1995 at the age of 88.

Mrs Burton said: "He painted about 200 a year up to three years before he died when he had a stroke."

Friday Woods, spanning 1,943 acres, is also popular with walkers, cyclists and runners.

The first parts of it were bought by the Army in 1927 and additional land purchases took place from 1955 to 1964.

It is used by the Army as a 'dry training area', meaning for fitness and tactical training and does not involve live firing.

The MoD has declined to comment on any specific changes to sites but a spokesman said: “Further work will be carried out in consultation with all stakeholders to determine the future re-provision for each site.

“A decision on where specific capabilities will be re-located to will be made once this work is complete.”