An exhibition about the life and work of one of Sussex’s most acclaimed authors has seen over 10,000 people visit since it opened.

Never-before-seen belongings and artwork from Raymond Briggs was put on display in Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft and has attracted thousands of visitors to the village over the space of just five months.

The exhibition about the author, famed for his Christmas favourite The Snowman, which became a film, will now stay open until the festive season.

New items will be added to the exhibition in the winter including Christmas cards made by Briggs and sent to friends and family.

Raymond Briggs, who died in 2022Raymond Briggs, who died in 2022

Read More: Unseen work by The Snowman creator Raymond Briggs goes on display

Steph Fuller, Director, Ditchling Museum said: “It has been a privilege to be invited by Raymond Briggs’ estate to visit his home and select objects for this exhibition and we have been delighted with the response.

"We hope by extending the show for two months many more visitors can engage and enjoy the show this winter.”

A Christmas card created by Raymond Briggs and sent to friends and familyA Christmas card created by Raymond Briggs and sent to friends and family (Image: Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft)

Among Briggs’s items featured in the exhibition are his writing desk, which he used for more than 40 years, and a pair of cupboard doors featuring drawings of his parents who featured in his graphic novel, Ethel and Ernest.

Briggs is best known for The Snowman as well as Fungus The Bogeyman and When The Wind Blows.

The exhibition is a touring production in collaboration with the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration.

It includes work from the author’s most famous books, also including Father Christmas.

Also on show will be his drawings, typography and page designs from his earliest commissions to his 2004 book The Puddleman.

His belongings give a sense of who he was and his playful response to his fame.

The exhibition is the first to be dedicated to Briggs since his death in 2022 aged 88.

The author lived near Ditchling, at Westmeston, and the county featured heavily in some of his works. Landmarks such as the Royal Pavilion and Brighton’s Palace Pier both feature in The Snowman as he flies across the county and out to sea.

Bloomin’ Brilliant: The Life and Work of Raymond Briggs will remain open at the Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft until December 22.