"It turns out that there was a pre-Raphaelite artist named Robert Bateman in the late 19th/early 20th century who lived at Biddulph Hall at Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK . I first saw his work as a single painting in the Tate Gallery, London 1976. It was a moody, twilight scene in front of a pine forest. Lying in the meadow was a dead knight with his faithful dog lying by his side. It was mysterious and evocative.

A few years later we discovered a book about this artist, The Lost PreRaphaelite: The Secret Life and Loves of Robert Bateman by Nigel Daly. He and his partner live on the Biddulph property. In it he refers to his efforts to get information on his Robert Bateman but he kept coming up with references to an “irrelevant Canadian artist of the same name”. I wrote Nigel a fan letter and identified myself as the “irrelevant Canadian artist”. He invited Birgit and me to come and visit … which we did. There is an old ruins next to their house. All that is left is a stone wall (part of the original Biddulph Old Hall 16th century mansion). Some special damage was caused by cannon fire by Oliver Cromwell’s army during the English civil war. I added the barn owl which could have flown by it back then, or now."

- Robert Bateman