Kelmscott House

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Kelmscott House
Kelmscott House.JPG
Kelmscott House
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameKelmscott House
Designated17 June 1954
Reference no. 119304

Kelmscott House is Grade II* listed [1] Georgian brick mansion at 26 Upper Mall in Hammersmith, overlooking the River Thames. Built in about 1785, it was the London home of English textile designer, artist, writer and socialist William Morris from 1878 to 1896. [2]

Contents

Originally called The Retreat, Morris renamed it after the Oxfordshire village of Kelmscott, where he had lived at Kelmscott Manor from June 1871.

Nearby, Morris began his "adventure in printing" with his private press, the Kelmscott Press, which he started at 16 Upper Mall in 1891.

Previous owners

The property was once owned by Sir Francis Ronalds' family. In 1816, he built the first electric telegraph in its garden. [3] From 1867, then called The Retreat, it was the family home of poet, minister and novelist George MacDonald who wrote two of his most popular children's books, At the Back of the North Wind (1871) and The Princess and the Goblin (1873), there. [2]

It was the London home of English textile designer, artist, writer and socialist William Morris from October 1878 until his death in October 1896. [2]

Today

The building is a private house, though the basement and coach house entrance serve as headquarters of the William Morris Society, whose premises are open to the public on Thursday and Saturday afternoons.

The William Morris Society temporarily re-formed the local branch of the Socialist League (UK, 1885) to participate in the 2011 London anti-cuts protest. [4] The banner was paraded again on 20 October 2012.

Related Research Articles

William Morris Textile designer, novelist, and socialist activist (1834–1896)

William Morris was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he helped win acceptance of socialism in fin de siècle Great Britain.

Arts and Crafts movement Design movement c. 1880–1920

The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America.

Edward Burne-Jones 19th-century English artist

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Hammersmith District of London

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Kelmscott Human settlement in England

Kelmscott is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in West Oxfordshire, about 2 miles (3 km) east of Lechlade in neighbouring Gloucestershire. Since 2001 it has absorbed Little Faringdon, which had been a separate civil parish. The 2011 Census recorded the merged parish's population as 198.

Kelmscott Manor

Kelmscott Manor is a limestone manor house in the Cotswolds village of Kelmscott, in West Oxfordshire, southern England. It dates from around 1570, with a late 17th-century wing, and is listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England. It is situated close to the River Thames, and it is frequently flooded. The nearest town is Lechlade-On-Thames.

Kelmscott Press Private press founded by designer William Morris in 1891

The Kelmscott Press, founded by William Morris and Emery Walker, published fifty-three books in sixty-six volumes between 1891 and 1898. Each book was designed and ornamented by Morris and printed by hand in limited editions of around 300. Many books were illustrated by Edward Burne-Jones. Kelmscott Press books sought to replicate the style of 15th-century printing and were part of the Gothic revival movement. Kelmscott Press started the contemporary fine press movement, which focuses on the craft and design of bookmaking, often using hand presses. While their most famous books are richly decorated, most Kelmscott Press books did not have elaborate decoration, but were published simply.

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Jane Morris English embroiderer and artists model

Jane Morris was an English embroiderer in the Arts and Crafts movement and artists' model who embodied the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of beauty. She was a model and muse to her husband William Morris and to Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Her sister was embroiderer and teacher Elizabeth Burden.

May Morris

Mary "May" Morris was an English artisan, embroidery designer, jeweller, socialist, and editor. She was the younger daughter of the Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer William Morris and his wife and artists' model, Jane Morris.

Morris & Co.

Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (1861–1875) was a furnishings and decorative arts manufacturer and retailer founded by the artist and designer William Morris with friends from the Pre-Raphaelites. With its successor Morris & Co. (1875–1940) the firm's medieval-inspired aesthetic and respect for hand-craftsmanship and traditional textile arts had a profound influence on the decoration of churches and houses into the early 20th century.

Retreat or re-treat may refer to:

Francis Ronalds 19th-century English scientist and engineer

Sir Francis Ronalds FRS was an English scientist and inventor, and arguably the first electrical engineer. He was knighted for creating the first working electric telegraph over a substantial distance. In 1816 he laid an eight-mile length of iron wire between wooden frames in his mother's garden and sent pulses using electrostatic generators.

William Morris Society

The William Morris Society was founded in 1955 in London, England. The Society's office and museum are located at Kelmscott House, Hammersmith, where Morris lived from 1879 until his death in 1896.

<i>Water Willow</i> (Rossetti)

Water Willow is an 1871 oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It depicts Jane Morris in the river landscape near Kelmscott Manor, with the manor in the left background and Kelmscott Church below the hill to the right.

7 Hammersmith Terrace

7 Hammersmith Terrace is an historic house in the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England, and the former home of English engraver and printer Emery Walker. Walker was an important figure in the English Arts and Crafts movement, and a close friend of textile designer William Morris, who lived nearby. During his life, Walker furnished the home in an Arts and Crafts style, reflecting his friendships with Morris and others.

William Morris Sixth Form (WMSF) is a mixed community sixth form, located in the Hammersmith area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England. It is named after William Morris, the textile designer, artist, writer, and libertarian socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and British Arts and Crafts Movement.

The Dove, Hammersmith

The Dove is a Grade II listed public house at 19 Upper Mall, Hammersmith, London W6 9TA.

Elizabeth (Bessie) Burden was an English embroiderer and teacher. She was a member of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and worked for the embroidery department of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. She was the sister of Jane Morris and sister-in-law of the artist, designer and poet, William Morris.

William Morris textile designs Textile designs by a founder of the British Arts and Crafts movement

William Morris (1834-1898), a founder of the British Arts and Crafts movement, sought to restore the prestige and methods of hand-made crafts, including textiles, in opposition to the 19th century tendency toward factory-produced textiles. With this goal in mind, he created his own workshop and designed dozens of patterns for hand-produced woven and printed cloth, upholstery, and other textiles.

References

  1. Historic England (17 June 1954). "Kelmscott House (1193040)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Elletson, Helen (2009). A History of Kelmscott House. Hammersmith: William Morris Society. ISBN   978-0-903283-27-4.
  3. Ronalds, B. F. (2016). Sir Francis Ronalds: Father of the Electric Telegraph. London: Imperial College Press. ISBN   978-1-78326-917-4.
  4. "The William Morris Society and the TUC Day of Action". William Morris Society UK. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.

Further reading

Coordinates: 51°29′26″N0°14′07″W / 51.4905°N 0.2354°W / 51.4905; -0.2354