Arts & Crafts Movement
The West Midlands and North Cotswolds are home to many reminders of the Arts and Crafts movement championed by designer William Morris (of wallpaper and fabric fame) and others who inspired England’s anti-industrial movement with a return to traditional methods of craftsmanship between 1860 and 1910.
The Birmingham School of Art played a leading role while London’s Guild and School of Handicraft, based on the medieval craft guilds which taught apprentices, was relocated from London’s East End to Chipping Campden by C.R. Ashbee.
More Places Arts & Crafts attractions
Check out the Gordon Russell Museum in Broadway if you are into furniture design as Russell was influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement in his early career.
Rodmarton Manor near Cirencester in Gloucestershire is a gem, while the Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum also has an impressive collection and more information in its dedicated Arts & Crafts Archive.
Inspired? Look for informative books by decorative arts historian Alan Crawford including Arts & Crafts Walks in Broadway and Chipping Campden, published by the Guild of Handicrafts Trust and a range of Arts & Crafts’ related books at Court Barn.