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The Red House

The Red House
The Red House
By Walthamstow Guardian

IN an anonymous suburban street in Bexleyheath, south east London, behind a high brick wall, stands a house with international significance and a strong Walthamstow connection.

The Red House was home to artist, poet and political radical William Morris, from 1860 to 1865, and his new bride and Pre-Raphaelite model Jane Burden.

And it has just become the latest acquisition of the National Trust.

Morris, founder of the Arts and Crafts movement, was born at Elm House in Walthamstow and lived as a youth at the Water House, now the William Morris Gallery in Lloyd Park, Forest Road.

He commissioned the Red House from architect and friend Philip Webb, revolutionising the Victorian home with light and space.

His friends Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones helped him to decorate the new house and, with their combined efforts, it became a landmark for the Arts and Crafts movement and led to the creation of the company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co.

Its garden, with honeysuckle, briar roses and poppies, became the inspiration for Morris's early wallpaper and fabric designs.

The National Trust announced last week that it had bought the house from the Hollamby family, who have lived there since 1952.

Until now access to the house has been very limited, but the NT hopes to open it up to the public from early summer.

Its plans include a learning and community officer to co-ordinate school visits, an electric version of the horse-drawn wagonette which Morris sent to Bexleyheath railway station to collect his guests, a study centre for research, teas on the lawn (as the Hollambys used to enjoy) and even a holiday flat so that people can enjoy the whole William Morris experience.

After paying £1.7m for the house, a delighted trust, which tried to buy it in the 1930s, has said it will be running a fundraising campaign for research and archaeological work.

The cash raised will also be used to restore and conserve the garden, which was created from scratch and included a kitchen garden and an orchard. Morris believed the garden should "clothe" the house and it was created as a single entity.

The house and garden were lovingly restored and cared for by Ted and Doris Hollamby, until Mr Hollamby's death in 1999, and many original features including paintings, stained glass and furniture still remain.

Bexley Council and the William Morris Society each put £25,000 towards the cost of the house. The other partners in the venture are English Heritage, the Bexley Heritage Trust, the World Monuments Fund, Friends of Red House, the Victorian Society, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

12:28 Thursday 30th January 2003
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