LONDON'S Guildhall Art Gallery is hosting a major public show of landscape paintings by Julian Perry, all inspired by Epping Forest.

The show, entitled Testament, runs until November 21 features more than 30 paintings.

The works form a portrait of Epping Forest creating a testament both to its rich and varied past and to its continuing significance for the future.

Testament is a two-year Arts Council-supported project to paint works inspired by the forest. The exhibition unveils the marks left by history preserved in the landscape, from Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries to the 1878 Act that transferred the forest to the Corporation of London and ensured its protection for ever.

Leading art critic William Feaver is quoted on the City of London website as saying: "Julian Perry explores Epping Forest with sharp eyes, deft appreciation and a wide range of reference. His paintings bring imaginative perspective to bear on the historic woodland and ,most memorably, individual trees."

Guildhall Art Gallery, on the east side of Guildhall Yard, next to the Guildhall, is open between 10am and 5pm, Monday to Saturday and between noon and 4pm on Sundays.

Admission is £2.50 (concessions £1, children under 16 free, and free for people living or working in the City of London). For more details, ring 020 7332 3700 or log on to www.

cityoflondon.gov.uk.