A SELECTION of paintings by an artist killed when he was swept out to sea from a Purbeck beauty spot are set to go under the hammer.

The coastline that ultimately led to Arthur Clarke’s untimely death, in 1943, was also the subject of his art.

Ten water colours, depicting scenes along the Jurassic Coast such as Peveril Point, Old Harry Rocks and Anvil Point, will go on offer at Cottees Auctions, Wareham, next Tuesday.

The paintings are being auctioned by the artist’s grandson Peter Farley, who lives in Peterborough.

Mr Clarke painted the pictures, between 1909 and 1929, when he lived in Exeter Road, Swanage.

Mr Farley said: “I was born in 1952 and my grandfather died on September 10, 1943, so I never met him.

“In 1943 we were at war with Germany. It was said to me that he had taken too many pain-killers and had gone for a walk, maybe sat down and fallen asleep.

“He was washed away with the tide at Dancing Ledge and his body was found about a week later on the Isle of Wight. I believe my mother and grandmother had to get permission from the War Office to go to the Isle of Wight to identify his body and bring him back home.”

Mr Farley hopes the paintings will eventually hang somewhere where everyone can enjoy them.

Auctioneer John Condie said: “The paintings are done in a naïve amateur style but capture the look of the surrounding coastline of Swanage before the war in a nostalgic way.”