I can’t recall the first time I came across a William Morris print.

They’re woven into the tapestry of English culture, still now as popular and iconic as they were when Morris was working in the 1800’s.

Morris was an artist, craftsman, poet and political activist. The wallpaper and textile designs for which is best known seek to invite nature inside the home and he famously said.

“If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

I totally agree with his statement and since a stint of living very minimally on a boat in my twenties, I now only own or purchase things, which bring me joy and are both beautiful and useful. The desk at which I am typing is a beautiful antique handed to me by a neighbour and my wardrobe is full of handmade, vintage or rather expensive new items, which I will love and cherish for years!

I feel especially connected to Morris because his work can be seen around the local area where I live. Just fifteen minutes away in East Grinstead is Standen; an Arts and Crafts style house (now owned by the National Trust). Which is completely furnished from top to bottom in carpets, fabrics and wallpaper by Morris and Co. Visiting Standen is different to other National Trust houses somehow. It’s warm, inviting and homely, thanks to the familiar wallpapers and ample textiles decorating each room.

Something that is only briefly mentioned in books about Morris is passion for reviving the art of natural dyeing.

During the nineteenth century other manufacturers and designers were using synthetic dyes.

Morris however preferred to use plants and natural sources including weld, birch, heather, madder and indigo in his distinctive prints.

Morris was against commercialism and struggled with the industrial revolution. He had an appreciation for traditional crafts and upheld traditional skills such as tapestry weaving, block printing, stained glass making and calligraphy.

Morris took on a factory at Merton Abbey Mills from 1881 to 1888. At the Merton Abbey works he paid his workers higher than average wages, supplied a library for their education, a dormitory for the apprentice boys and provided work in clean, healthy and pleasant surroundings. This is pretty amazing considering it was the era of the workhouse, exploitative factories, dangerous mining, and child labour.

Washing cloth in the river at Merton Abbey

Politically Morris was a key figure in early socialist groups, a tireless and impassioned campaigner and speaker. His commitment to improving working conditions was evident in his early cooperative endeavours and in the organisation of his own firm. (Wilhide, 1991)

I love this quote from Morris and think of how he must have really ‘stuck his neck out’ for other people!

“It is right and necessary that all should have work to do which shall be worth doing and be of itself pleasant to do, and which should be done under such conditions as would make it neither over-wearisome nor over-anxious.”

“Imagine, by the Wandle’s side, an old walled garden. On the banks, long, low-roofed worksheds, and a waterwheel revolving at its ease; long strips of printed cotton a-rinsing in the stream; great hanks of yarn, fresh from the indigo vat, hung, drying in the air; dyers and printers moving easily about – in all, a sunlit picture of most peaceful work.” [description of Merton Abbey in 1900]