FAQs

Your Cart

Close
Paper Plane Your order qualifies for free standard delivery
Subtotal £0.00
Delivery £0.00
Order Total £0
Checkout Securely

5 Things you didn’t know about Philip Webb

1st March 2020

Philip Speakman Webb, born January 1831 in Oxford, Webb is  often referred to as the ‘father’ of the Arts & Crafts movement along with Morris. He is well renowned for his architecture – comfortable, unpretentious yet stunningly beautiful country homes, he also designed interiors too including furniture, wallpaper, stained glass and tapestries.

We thought you might want to learn more about him with our 5 lesser known facts about Philip Webb.

Growing up

  • For his early life, Webb grew up in Oxford. He studied in Northamptonshire and trained under John Billing, an architect in Reading who specialised in traditional building repairs. He then became a junior assistant for the office of G.E. Street, where William Morris was also working, sparking a friendship that would be both personal and business for the rest of their lives. Within this office, they were working on the architecture of churches in Oxford.

Moris & Webb

  • Together, Morris and Webb founded Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. in 1861 and also, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in 1877.

Red House

  • The first commission Webb had was Red House in Bexleyheath Kent. This is a really famous home because it belonged to Morris and is incredibly beautiful, yet characteristically unpretentious and informal. Designed in 1859, Webb used contrasting materials which, as with lots of their projects both together and separately, had a respect for the site and for local traditions and crafts. The style pointed towards 20th century Functionalism in the bold and frank use of materials which exposed structural elements. He also designed Standen, an incredibly stunning arts-and-crafts property with Morris interiors. Today it’s a grade 2 listed building which is owned by the National Trust, it’s well worth a visit. His style is distinct, incredibly original, his work arguably became the germ of modernism as though he took influence from the Gothic Revival movement, he didn’t let this steer him and instead, he almost mixed styles and created his own. He chose comfortable and traditional, he didn’t move too much towards the Victorian elaborate designs nor the Gothic styles, he does tend to use traditional English styles with the red brick (Red House) sash windows, Tudor like chimneys etc. but you can definitely tell his influence when you look at his work as a portfolio.

Personal life

  • It’s known that he adored a girl in the 1860s, but it’s not known who she is and he never married. He told friend S.C. Cockerell during his later years that he could not afford to keep a wife, according to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography – if he had chosen to push forward with his own practice, that might have been different. It’s been documented that he told Dante Gabriel Rossetti that anyone who wished, “to follow art with advantage to the world and with hope of competing with art before” had “very severe in the liability of disturbance from collateral courses, such as payment, popularity – position” because whilst these were not “of necessity ruinous to art” often, they “ruin the workman.” (Webb to Rossetti, 21 May 1866, in the G. W. Taylor to Webb letters, V&A). It’s clear in these letters, what a passion architecture was, over riding everything else, including money or marriage to his unidentified love.

Later life

  • The latter years of Webb’s life, by 1899, he was in poor health and losing money. He couldn’t afford to build a property for himself based on his savings, and so he accepted a rental from his friend William Scawen Blunt at a low price. He handed over his architecture practice to chief assistant George Jack, he moved in Jan 1901 to Caxtons, where he spent his retirement comfortably. He continued to enjoy nature as he clearly did throughout his life, creating many of the birds and other elements of nature for Morris’s work. He developed rheumatism and so he wasn’t able to go ahead working on passion projects as much as intended during his retirement, creating artefacts, but he did lots of work on house and garden, attended SPAB meetings and in 1915, passed away peacefully.

 

Philip Webb may not have financially left lots, but his legacy is vast. That’s in terms of his work with SPAB, his architecture, his collaborations with Morris, much of his work for Morris & Co. and Standen is now owned by the National Trust and furniture he designs is showcased in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

There’s so much to learn about Webb, we absolutely loved writing this to hopefully shed more light onto his life. If you want to read more of our blogs about key figures of this era, please read more of our blog! 

 

We used this Oxford Dictionary of National Biography website as a reference point if you’d like to learn more.

Related Articles

Post Title

William Morris in Leek

The St Edwards Church in Leek, contains a beautiful window designed by William Morris and his friend Edward Burne-Jones. Today, the church is a pillar of...

Post Title

Hedgehog in the garden

  Thought you might like to see the pictures of this little hedgehog that we rescued from the road near our house.  It seemed to...

Post Title

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings

William Morris, John Ruskin, Philip Webb and other members of the PreRaphaelite Movement began the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in 1877.  The...

Bringing timeless elegance to the kitchen with our William Morris Strawberry Thief red oven glove and matching tea towel 🍓🕊️ The perfect blend of beauty and function—who said everyday essentials can’t be art? 🫶🏻
•
•
•
#WilliamMorris #StrawberryThief #KitchenStyle #HeritagePrint #BritishDesign #CottagecoreKitchen #KitchenInspo #TimelessDesign #TextileArt #HomeDetails #MorrisAndCo #FloralPrint #OvenGloveStyle #TeaTowelLove #PatternedKitchen
🎉 GIVEAWAY TIME! 🎉
Win 2 meters of the stunning William Morris “Daisy” fabric – perfect for your next sewing or home décor project! 🌼✨
To enter:
1️⃣ Like this post
2️⃣ Follow us
3️⃣ Tag a friend who loves fabric as much as you do!

📅 Winner announced 1st July
Good luck! 💛🌼
*
*
*
#WilliamMorrisFabric #FabricGiveaway #SewingCommunity #QuiltingLife #CraftAddict #TextileLovers #FabricStash #SewingInspiration #HomeDecorFabric #DaisyFabric #Sewcialists #giveaway #giveawaycontest #win #winner #competition #competitiontime
50% off Daisy heavyweight and cotton fabric?! 🌼 Oopsy Daisy we printed too much, so there’s now 50% off this incredibly beautiful William Morris design- what are you waiting for! 🫶🏻 This was the first design William Morris ever produced so it remains an incredibly special one, and such a timeless design, it’s perfect for quilting and crafting, the heavyweight is brilliant for light upholstery and curtain making! 🌿 Heavyweight is now £4 for half a meter and cotton is £3.50 for half a meter 🤯
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #salefabric #discount #quiltingfabric #sewingfabric #upholsteryfabric #curtainfabric #smallbusiness
✨ Timeless beauty for your kitchen ✨
Our Pimpernel Green tea towel and oven glove bring the iconic elegance of William Morris into your everyday. Perfect for adding a touch of Arts & Crafts charm to your home 🌿

Available now in our shop!
•
•
•
#WilliamMorris #ArtsAndCraftsMovement #PimpernelGreen #KitchenStyle #HeritageDesign #TimelessInteriors #FloralTextiles #HomeStyle #CountryKitchen #CottagecoreAesthetic #EcoHomeDecor #WilliamMorrisTextiles #BritishDesign #ArtisanKitchen #SustainableStyle
If you had to guess our favourite colour combo? 🫶🏻 Beautiful Brother Rabbits on the table today along with some stunning blue and white blooms 🤍
•
•
•
#blueandwhiteforever #blueandwhitedecor #blueandwhitehome #williammorris #williammorrisdesign #brotherrabbit #preraphaelite #artsandcraftsmovement
What have you made with bias binding? 🌿 Perfect for crafting, we’ve got some amazing sales on our 50m bias binding rolls in Red Strawberry Thief, Lily and Trellis have 80% off, a 50m roll for £25- what would you make? 🪡🧵
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #biasbinding #biasbindinguk #fabricsale #fabricsales
Which is your fave; Strawberry Thief red or blue? 🫶🏻 
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisdesigns #preraphaelites #artsandcraftsmovement #strawberrythief #printedintheuk
A gorgeous Strawberry Thief tablescape - because why not make everyday things just that little bit prettier? 🥰 Is Strawberry Thief blue or red your fave? 🫶🏻
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #uksmallbusiness #smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner #strawberrythief #strawberrythiefprint #preraphaelite
These gorgeous flowers steal the show in our easy little Saturday tablescape 🫶🏻 Lily is one of our favourite William Morris designs and we were so happy to be able to digitally print it now, of course it’s still printed here in the UK 🇬🇧 
•
•
•
#cottagecore #flowers #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #aldifinds #lily #aldiflowers
Beautiful blooms wrapped in timeless William Morris beauty 🌸✨
This William Morris floral Mallow Wine is so gorgeous and one of our faves year round 🫶🏻
•
•
•
#WilliamMorris #FloralDesign #MallowWine #VintageStyle #BotanicalBeauty #ClassicCharm #TextileArt #TimelessDesign #PatternLovers #NatureInspired #RomanticDetails #FloralFabric #EnglishHeritage #ElegantAesthetic
Totally obsessed with these dreamy William Morris florals 🌸🪡
Perfect for sewing projects, cushions, curtains – you name it. Classic prints that never go out of style!
•
•
•
#WilliamMorrisFabric #FloralVibes #SewingProjects #FabricAddict #VintageFlorals #HomeStyle #CraftyCorner #InteriorInspo #CottagecoreVibes #PrettyPatterns #FabricStashGoals
Every Laura’s Beau team member has a William Morris napkin on hand at all time; even on the beach apparently 😂 Dreaming of beach days in Cornwall a few weeks ago ⛱️
•
•
•
#cornwall #cornwallbeaches #cornwalluk #icecream #napkin #strawberrythief #williammorris
A little William Morris floral magic hanging over the cooker today 🫶🏻 can you name this Morris design? 🤎
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #ovenglove #teatowel #teatoweldesign #teatowelsofinstagram #cottagecoreaesthetic #cottagecore #compton
Spending Friday eve arranging some fresh blooms round the house ready for bank holiday weekend 🥰 Remember our 15% discount is still running on our website, use code: SPRINGBLOOMS 🫶🏻
•
•
•
#bankholidayweekend #williammorris #pimpernel #freshflowers #iris #flowerarranging #cutflowers
Cut some fresh blooms out of the garden today so we can have them decorate our table 🌷 We 🫶🏻 you beautiful Golden Lily 🌿
•
•
•
#freshflower #freshflowersmakemehappy #freshflowersbouquet #williammorris #williammorrisfloral #flowersfrommygarden #flowersmakethehome #floraltable #goldenlily
Always one of our favourites, our Willow Bough blue tablecloth brings the beauty of William Morris into the home, remember our whole website is 15% off this week! Use code: springblooms 🌿
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #fabrics #willowbough #inspiredbynature #floraltable #tablecloth
Making everything in life its own little event, even a coffee and a cake 🫶🏻 Featuring our Strawberry Thief red William Morris design napkin and placemat 🍓
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #strawberrythief #lifesmoments #atthekitchentable #smallmomentsofcalm
The easiest napkin fold is so effective 🫶🏻 Next to a dinner plate or placed on the plate with a cake fork, it’s perfect for easy yet chic presentation 🍴
•
•
•
#napkinfold #napkinfolding #tablescape #atthekitchentable #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #preraphaelite #floraldesign
Our William Morris Lily design is back in stock! 🤍 A gorgeous design especially this spring/ summer it’s a timeless design we adore year after year 🌿
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #preraphaelite #floraldesign #smallbusiness #supportsmall