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1st August 2019
We can never quite believe the achievements of William Morris. The multifaceted man achieved more than most in many lifetimes and had a range of talents. When reading about Morris for all these years, it’s clear to see that he took such a keen interest in such a variety of crafts and arts – but then not only that, he took it further to practice and practice until he perfected the art. He did of course have an unbelievable amount of natural talent, but by working at the crafts with such passion, he was able to master the arts.
One such venture was his work at Merton Abbey. Now, we know that Morris was determined to push back against the mass industrialisation that was occurring at the time. The return to traditional craftsmanship was part of this – he dreaded the people losing that skill and relying on machines. Merton Abbey Mills takes it’s name from Merton Priory; one of the most important monasteries of the middle ages. The abbey was on the River Wandle, so textile mills were attracted to the property and area by 1600 due to the water power but also importantly, because of the properties the water possessed. The water had a special balance of a chalk stream which was suitable to textile creation for washing, dyeing and printing. In fact; by 1792, the river was actually one of the hardest working rivers in Europe as various print works moved to the banks.
It’s important to mention the industry at the time – the textile industry in the UK was booming. The British Empire was expanding, as was the population and therefore the demand for textiles (cotton) increasing with it. The Pennines in particular saw a real boom in trade. The good thing about this is that it really improved the standard and quality of living within the UK and those areas. Prior to industrialisation, many families had been working in the domestic system and so there was a ready supply of both talented weavers and spinners.
It was no different in Wandle Valley and it attracted workers from all over the UK to the hive of activity. We still print and manufacture all our products in the UK, but it’s really unfortunate that so many don’t; simply due to cost. There are still mills in Britain and it’s important we use them so we don’t lose that heritage!
Morris moved his prints to Merton Abbey in 1881 and remained there until 1888. It was here he created multiple iconic designs – including Strawberry Thief and Brother Rabbit. The conditions on the River Wandle were completely perfect for his needs and textiles.
His interest in socialism intensified during this period and he acted upon them which is really key. For his workers, he really treated them fairly. It’s known that he payed his workers above the average wage, supplied a library to use for education and provided a healthy and very importantly safe workplace. The apprentice boys were even given accommodation whilst they learnt the craft, Morris knew the importance of educating the next generation to keep the crafts alive and in practice.
Many of our very favourite designs were produced there – including Willow Bough, one of our all time best loved designs.
Posted in News by Laura
Happy International Women’s Day! 🌍 We thought we’d celebrate by bringing you the words from some amazing Pre Raphaelite women, who’s talents shouldn’t have been so overlooked at the time (but luckily now are being celebrated with their contributions to the arts!) be sure to read into their stories if you have a minute today, they’re all so interesting ✨ As a business run by women, it’s always a day to celebrate 💜
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#internationalwomensday #iwd2026 #womensupportingwomen #preraphaelites #preraphaelitesisterhood
Gorgeous Willow Bough blue on the table paired with layers of beautiful @burleighpottery plates 🤍 Always a stunning design to have on the table, did you know it was first produced in 1887, his daughter May Morris wrote of the design, “We were walking one day by our little stream that runs into the Thames and my father pointed out the detail and soon after the paper was done.” We love the behind the design info, painting a beautiful picture of how he was so inspired by nature 🌿
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #burleighpottery #uksmallbusiness #blueandwhitedecor
Have you seen our range of table runners? ✨ This gorgeous Golden Lily design adds some Morris floral loveliness to the table, pair with matching napkins and placemats for layer upon layer of floral magic ✨
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#williammorris #wmorris #preraphaelites #floraltablerunner #ukdesigner
Some new fabric bundles are now uploaded on our Etsy! ✨ We’ll post the link to our stories to them but some, like in the picture are almost fat quarters, perfect for quilting and crafting, and some are proper scrap bundles full of various sizes and designs, wonderful for crafting- we always wonder what everyone will create from them 🪡 They get rave reviews on our Etsy with crafters and quilters loving them for smaller projects 🥰
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#williammorrisfabric #williammorris #quiltingfabric #craftingfabric #sewingfabric
We’re so ready to see everyone’s beautiful Easter tablescapes! 🐣 our top necessities for an Easter table are multiple eggs and gorgeous flowers- the best combo! This William Morris Brother Rabbit tablecloth is the perfect addition to Easter with all those rabbits all over it! 🐰
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#williammorris #wmorris #preraphaelites #easter #eastertablescape
Beauty is always found in the details, our kitchen needs lots of different florals to bring colour and fun to the kitchen - this is our William Morris licensed design Willow Bough in Green, one of our favourite tea towels ✨ Do you have a favourite Morris design tea towel in your kitchen? 🤍
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #wmorris #preraphaelites #willowbough
Have you seen our range of exclusive designs? 🥰 From our exclusive French archive dating back to the late 1800s- early 1900s we’ve faithfully restored them and recoloured them to digitally print them ✨ All perfect for quilting and crafting, they’re such gorgeous designs, in blues and greens (this isn’t the full collection but head to our website to see them all!) 🤍
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#quiltingcotton #craftingfabric #ukfabric #ukfabricshop #quiltingfabric
William Morris designs bring nature indoors with all the florals, birds and botanicals, so we brought some of our garden inside with some beautiful snowdrops on the table - anyone else excited about the garden waking up for spring? 🌱☀️
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#gardenflorals #gardensofengland #williammorris #wmorris #preraphaelites
What makes our William Morris oven gloves special? Well….
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#williammorris #wmorris #ovenglove #smallbusiness #floralkitchen
Happy Pancake Day! 🥞 With the sun finally shining here in Yorkshire we had to bring some of it inside with some flowers from the garden- gorgeous snowdrops down the table ☀️ This tablecloth is the beautiful William Morris Trellis, our licensed William Morris design and always a favourite of ours 🫶🏻 Is anyone else starting on the Easter eggs in February? It’s not just us right… 😉
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#williammorris #gardenflowers #snowdropseason #burleighpottery #pancakeday
Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend filled with love 🤍 Our Mallow Forest Green licensed William Morris design looked gorgeous on the table this weekend 🌱
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#williammorris #wmorris #tablescapestyling #floraltable #preraphaelites
We thought we’d do a little spotlight onto all our designs the next few weeks to give more story behind them as they’re all so historic being licensed William Morris designs ✨ First designed in 1874, this is Lily, a beautiful design that incorporates the willow background with lilies and wild flowers 🫶🏻 The design must have been well loved by Morris himself- it was the wallpaper he used to decorate his bedroom at the gorgeous @kelmscottmanor - his home in Lechlade 🤍 Have you ever seen Morris’ Lily design? It’s one of our favourites 🤍
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#williammorris #wmorris #lily #floraltable #britishdesign
Dressed for all seasons, we love that if you scroll down our page you can see how you can make timeless designs like this Merton William Morris licensed design beautifully dressed up all year round ✨ This would look beautiful for Valentine’s Day but scroll our page to see it dressed for Christmas- buy your favourite design and re-invent it year round 🤍
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #wmorris #valentines #valentinestablescape
We’re back open ☺️ sorry we’ve been so quiet on here, we’ve had a few weeks off for holidays 🫶🏻 We’re back now and ready to send out your floral magic kitchenware and fabrics ✨
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#printedintheuk #uksmallbusiness #fabricstore #fabrics #valentines
Still dreaming of last summer with my wedding bouquet and our “Jean” design we had for our napkins 🫶🏻 It’s an original Laura’s Beau design out our archive and named after my lovely Nanny, we have it in blue and this sage green, but we’re always dreaming of new colour ways to print it in 💭 What colour do you think would look good? ✨
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#smallbusinessowner #bridalbouquets #weddingtable #bouquet #floral
Golden Lily on the table today 🧁 everything should feel special even a little coffee and cake with friends, so we dressed the table up for it to make it extra special, isn’t Golden Lily such a beautiful William Morris design, one of our all time favourites ✨
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#williammorris #wmorris #goldenlily #floraltable #floralprint
Gorgeous William Morris Sweet Briar fabric! 🌿 Love the green leaves and pink flowers 🫶🏻 We have it in cotton, heavyweight cotton, and pvc, so you’ll find the perfect fit for your project ✨ 🪡🧵
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #fabricstash #ukfabric #wmorris
We’re having a moving sale over on our website! ✨ There are some absolute bargains to be had, including all these items! 🛒 Remember we offer free UK postage on all orders too 🌿 Plus we have a 15% off code running at the moment with code; JAN15 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #wmorris #smallukbusiness #smallshop #floralprint
We’ve got some fab bundles on our Etsy - we have a lot of offcuts from end of rolls and floral fabric magic can’t be wasted so we bundle them up ✨ Perfect for crafting, we have heavyweight fabric bundles and cotton available now, but hurry, they always sell out quick 🥰
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#williammorrisdesign #williammorris #wmorris #fabricstack #ukfabric
Guess who has a new bed for our new offices ✨ The king of naps, he will wake for biscuits, pets and little else during his day in the office 🫶🏻 His bed is covered in our licensed William Morris Willow Bough green and it looks so beautiful 🌿 The perfect bed to nap on all day ✨
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#williammorris #wmorris #blacklab #blacklabsquad #dogbeds
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