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William Morris Kelmscott Manor

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!

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Mid week tables require; a vase of gorgeous fresh flowers, as many sweet treats as you can get your hands on, and of course, a gorgeous tablecloth set- this Willow Bough blue is one of our all time favourite William Morris designs, it’s utterly timeless and so beautiful 🌿
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The table details;
Willow Bough blue napkins- £16.99
Willow Bough tablecloths- starting at £29.99 depending on size 
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #willowbough #englishdesign #myfloralhome
A little update from us 🇬🇧
From 1st July, our product prices will be increasing due to continued rises in manufacturing and material costs.
We’ve worked hard to absorb these increases for as long as possible, but to continue providing the quality you expect from us, a small price adjustment is now necessary.
Every product we create is proudly printed and manufactured here in the UK, using high-quality materials and processes that ensure a finish we’re proud of. Our fabrics are all digitally printed to give a crisp finish.
If you’ve been thinking about placing an order, now is the perfect time — all orders placed before 1st July will be at our current prices.
To thank you for your support, we’re offering an exclusive discount before the new prices take effect.
Use code: thankyou
Enjoy 10% off your order until 14th June
This is the perfect opportunity to place your order at current prices and enjoy an additional saving before the increase.
Thank you for supporting a UK small business and for choosing quality. We truly appreciate every order ❤️
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#uksmallbiz #madeintheuk #williammorris #fabricstore #floralfabric
Gorgeous postbox 📮 If you’d like a free sample of any of our fabrics just send us a message and we’ll get them sent out to you 💌 If you’re ordering from abroad, we will always take the parcel to the post office to make sure we’re comparing different postage methods to get the best postage prices for you- we’re wanting to spread the floral goodness global! Today I pottered to the post office to send a lovely pvc apron to Australia which is amazing that Morris is well known world wide! 🐨🦘🇦🇺 
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #smallukbusiness #fabricdesign #postboxesofinstagram
The best season is peony season 🫶🏻 Our favourite flowers, having peonies blooming in the house is always the best ✨ This is our William Morris Merton design, the most stunning blue and white pattern is so timeless ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #wmorris #morrisdesign #blueandwhitedecor
Lily is one of our favourite William Morris designs, it’s such a beautiful botanical design with all those willow leaves in the background 🌿 
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #lily #floraltable #floralmagic
Happy Strawberry Thief day! 🍓 On this day in 1883, Morris registered this beautiful design, isn’t it amazing that all these years later, it’s still as timeless as ever now more popular than ever and decorating homes across the world 🐦‍⬛ 
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#strawberrythief #williammorris #williammorrisdesign #birddesign #floralfabric
We want to say a huge THANK YOU to all our lovely customers who have been so patient with us whilst our website checkout has been all in a tizzy - and thank you for your orders on another platform, we appreciate you keeping us going as a small business- but, we’re back up and running now so please use code: THANKYOU at checkout for 15% off until Sunday 🫶🏻✨ (song was me when we finally got tech issues fixed 🫠😂)
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#williammorrisfabric #williammorris #wmorris #floralteatowel #williammorrisdesign
📣 This fabric is on a big sale! 📣 Our red Strawberry Thief drill fabric is currently on sale for £15 a metre 🍓 Our drill fabric is a slightly heavier weight and weave than our heavyweight fabric and is perfect for light upholstery, curtain making and more 🪡🧵 It won’t be on sale long so grab yourself some whilst you can ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #strawberrythief #ukfabric #curtainfabric
The soundtrack to our day- our fabric cutter! 🎼 If you ever order fabric from us this is how we get our cuts so straight ☺️ Did you know that we sell our fabrics by the half meter, so however big or small your project is, we’ve got fabric for you ☺️ This is our gorgeous William Morris Strawberry Thief blue design, it’s very often on our cutting table as it’s so popular! Do you prefer it in red or in blue? 🍓 
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#williammorris #fabricbytheyard #fabricbymeter #floralfabric #ukfabric
Replacing all normal eggs with chocolate ones for the foreseeable future 🐣 Brother Rabbit Green on the table always looks so beautiful, we just love this new colour way in this gorgeous William Morris design ✨
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#williammorris #wmorris #eastertable #floraltable #eastertablescape
Gorgeous flowers this weekend 🤍 We can’t get over the beautiful tulips 🌷 Brother Rabbit blue on the table, do you prefer it in the blue, red or green? 🌿
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#williammorris #wmorris #preraphaelites #flowerpowerfabric #flowers