Kelmscott Manor, the home of William Morris

Thank you for organising such a worthwhile visit to Kelmscott Manor on Wednesday afternoon. We enjoyed the well-planned guided tour around the manor house. Having split our party of 26 into three groups we only encountered each of the other groups once in all the room and floor changes.

The Guides and their supporting cast, two ‘Sheepdogs’, kept us on track and provided information on the use of the rooms from Tudor times onwards. Particularly interesting was the involvement of the Victorians, Morris and his family, Rossetti and other members of the Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts and Crafts movement.

It was fascinating to be walking round a Phillip Webb table, to look more closely at original Morris curtains and tapestries, and Rossetti paintings of Jane Morris and her children.  Apparently the Society of Antiquaries, who own the property, are trying to follow May Morris’s wishes that the furnishings in the manor should be as her father would have recognised them, including pieces from The Red House by Webb and items that had been collected from across Europe and installed by Rossetti.

Cream Tea in the café was appreciated after the tour as was the shop with all the Morris designs at the end of the visit.

We’ll be sure to visit again with time to see the gardens and the river.

Kelmscott Manor, a limestone manor house in West Oxfordshire, It dates from around 1570 and has with a late 17th-century wing