The William Morris Gallery

Yesterday, a group from the SJWWC visited the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow in northwest London. William Morris (born March 24^th 1834), was a man of many talents. He was a designer, craftsman and writer (and not to mention Socialist!). The gallery is located in the Morris’s family home (the former Water House) from 1848-1856. It is a Georgian house dating from around 1750.

Morris and his life long friends John Ruskin, Edward Burne-Jones, Ford Madox Brown and Philip Webb formed an artistic movement called the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Simply put, this group of talented men disliked manufactured items and favoured a return to handmade craftsmanship. The Gallery holds a collection that illustrates Morris’s life and work. There are displays of printed and embroidered fabrics, rugs, wallpapers, furniture, painted tiles and stained glass. Morris died October 3, 1896 at Hammersmith, and is quoted as 'having done more work than most ten men'. The adventure to Walthamstow was short and sweet with very tiny gift shop!