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7th May 2019
On the 10th May 1871, Morris wrote to Edith Marion Story to let her know he was looking for “a little house out of London” for his family to live in and enjoy. By the 16th May, Fairfax Murray wrote in his diary that he, “breakfasted with Mr Morris. Went with him to Faringdon, lunched at Lechlade and drove over to Kelmscott to look at a house and returned in the evening.”
On the 17th May 1871, Morris wrote to his friend Faulkner and – as far as we know from his surviving records – this is the first time he wrote about Kelmscott Manor. He described the home as “a heaven on earth; an old stone Elizabethan house like Water Eaton, and such a garden! close down on the river, a boat house and all things handy.”
He signed the lease with friend Dante Gabriel Rossetti – though left soon after they moved in for Iceland, leaving his wife Jane and Rossetti to decorate and spend the Summer together. They were involved in an affair and so this makes sense as to why he left so soon afterwards.
Morris loved the house because it was a physical representation of everything he stood for. At the time the area was completely undeveloped, a little haven away from London and a true Arts & Crafts style house. He thought that is looked like it had, “grown up out of the soil,” so in harmony was it with it’s surroundings. The entire house just encapsulated completely his entire aesthetic and passions; the house, gardens, streams, meadows and barns all served as a huge source of inspiration for the rest of his life.
After Morris himself passed away, Jane purchased the home and though she never returned after she bought it, their daughter May spent much of her adult life living here. If you visit, you can find the headstones to show the entire family; William, Jane and their two children Jenny and May buried nearby in the churchyard of St George’s Church. That shows what an affiliation he had with Kelmscott that he wished to be buried here, where he felt so at home and inspired.
We love visiting Kelmscott, it’s so clear to see why Morris loved it here. The now Grade One listed Manor house still contains an incredible amount of treasures of Morris’s which includes stunning textiles and wallpaper which we especially love to see. The Society of Antiquities owns the property and has lottery funding to preserve the house, so it’s amazing to visit, remember to check out the gift shop where you can find a collection of our William Morris products!
Posted in News by Laura
Do you have a fave out of these beautiful William Morris florals? 🌿 We could never pick just one 🪻
Designs top row; Willow Bough Green & Golden Lily
Designs bottom row; Pimpernel Cream, Pimpernel Green & Compton ✨
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Our William Morris florals Daisy and Willow Bough Green expertly modelled by Bertie during his weekend away to the beautiful @castle_howard - he enjoyed wearing a floral cravatte and bow tie pretending to be a Bridgerton (the bow tie did indeed end up being a bow on the top of his head after one too many sniffs 😂🎀)
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#labrador #blacklab #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #daisy #willowbough #floralfabric #motorhomelife #motorhome #castlehoward #bridgerton
Inspired by nature and designed by William Morris, aren’t they all just such beautifully timeless designs 🫶🏻
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Back in stock alert! 🫧 A firm favourite for many, we absolutely love William Morris Brother Rabbit design, don’t you? 🫶🏻 If you’d like a sample, just send us a message 💌
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Did you know all our fabric is printed in the UK and all our products manufactured in the UK too? 🫶🏻 As a small business ourselves, it’s important to us to celebrate and support independent businesses and we love how many incredible businesses use our fabrics for their own products! 🩷
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Bertie is celebrating national dog day in (floral) style on his new little car bed we made, with matching Sweet Briar accessories of course 🥰 If you’re wanting to know how we made this to fit our car, let us know, we’re always happy to write a blog on our craft bits! 🫶🏻
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Calling all quilters! 🫧 Our 100% cotton fat quarters are now available individually on our website! In all our licensed William Morris designs, they are incredible for quilts 🪡 If you order four, you get one free, so please message us to choose the design of your free fat quarter 🫶🏻
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Missing peony season ✨ We’re loving layering Willow Bough blue and green together at the moment, don’t they look so good together 🤍
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We hope everyone’s enjoyed a beautifully sunny weekend ☀️ Bertie enjoyed wearing some Morris florals in the sun ⛱️ For our tutorial on how to make a dog bandana, check out our blog! 🥰
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Did you know that in Japan where our projects are sold, our tea towels are used not only for being functional but for decoration - we love that they’re framed, or laid on the table as a centrepiece to be admired or hung as a draped item to bring some nature indoors 🌿 we thought we’d do the same by using the tea towel as a centrepiece for a simple cup of tea and very delicious piece of cake! 🍰
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With so many timeless designs and writings, we think Morris achieved his aim, don’t you? 🫶🏻
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Lazy Sunday mornings 💤 our William Morris Strawberry Thief tablecloths are now back in stock in all sizes if you fancy adding some floral magic to your table ✨ Hope you all have a lovely Sunday! 🩷
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A beautiful day on the beach; we had to take our incredible small Compton tote bag to carry a certain someone’s special treats that we got from the lovely @nationaltrust shop, can you tell he was very happy with them! 😂🫶🏻
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We’re going to have to look at this English summer through our rose coloured specs we think and set the table summery despite the rain!☔️🩷 We thought this made the perfect table setting; a bouquet with blooms out the garden wrapped in a Daisy napkin cone, doesn’t it look great! 🫶🏻 We’re going to put a small bunch at everyone’s seat and then they can take them home to enjoy at their houses 🌿
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #strawberrythief #napkins #floraldesign #florals #floraltabledecor #tablescape #daisy
✨ It’s the last day for 20% off our whole website! ✨ Use code: floralsummer at checkout on our website today only! 🫶🏻
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We’re thinking of selling our William Morris Daisy fabric by the half metre 🫶🏻 It’s a much narrower fabric than our usual fabrics, but we’ve had some customers interested in it in cotton and heavyweight for projects such as upholstery, curtain and dress making and quilting projects, what do you all think? ✨🌿
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✨✨ Offer extended ✨✨ We forgot to give you warning that our 20% off code was expiring and we thought it would brighten up some rainy July days, so now until the 14th July, take 20% off our website using code: FLORALSUMMER ☂️
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Always learning new napkin folds- anyone fancy a tutorial on how to make this little cutlery napkin jacket? 🍴🫶🏻 We’ve been using Willow Bough green and blue together on the table lately and we LOVE them together! 🌿 what do you think? Would you put them together on your table? ☺️
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These blooms 😍 We absolutely adore this design Charlotte Rose, it’s from our French archive that we lovingly restored to its former glory and bring out all year round for on the table- we paired it here with our Willow Bough green tablecloth and the greens and pinks go together so well 🫶🏻
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#frenchdesign #frenchfloral #frenchdesign #charlotterose #florals #tablescape #tabledecor #williammorrisdesign #williammorris #willowbough
Cut this wonderful fabric stack yesterday 🫶🏻 All these beautiful Morris florals together in our heavyweight fabrics 🪡🧵
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