Edward Burne-Jones – My London+

The Arts and Craft Church

Holy Trinity, Sloane Square was given the name ‘Arts & Crafts Movement’ by Sir John Betjeman. It really is a splendid church. Quite unusual and houses a stained glass window by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris & Company. So, of course I had to visit!

The building work began in 1888 on the site given by the Earl of Cadogan. He also financed the building and its furnishings, designed by J D Sedding. Sedding died before the church was completed and his assistant Henry Wilson carried through the work as the architect intended.

Holy Trinity has many stained glass windows, but the one I had come especially come to see was the east window – the one of Burne-Jones and William Morris. It is the window first seen as you walk in as it is behind the altar. To the right is an information board with a description of all the panels in the window.

It was lovely to see the busts of William Morris and John Ruskin as sort of bookends over the case containing the frontal altar cloth designed by John Sedding.

East Window by Edward Burne-Jones & William Morris & Co.

There was interesting decoration around the top of wall by the chapel. The chapel itself is quite dark, but has a lovely stained glass window of St Michael and Gabriel.

Certainly a very interesting church to walk around. While I was there, a group of dancers were rehearsing for an up-and-coming performance. There was also a Christmas shop for ‘Good Causes’ so I bought my first pack of Christmas cards, advent candle and an advent calendar!

Holy Trinity features in the book London’s 100 Best Churches by Leigh Hatts. I’ve visited only sixteen of them so far! The church is just a short walk away from Sloane Square tube station.

Red House, Bexleyheath, Kent

Red House was built by architect Philip Webb for William Morris. The two were good friends. The Morris’ only lived here for five years, and some of the wall decorations are incomplete, but the house is beautiful and fascinating. There were plans for Edward Burne-Jones and his family to move in later, making it a village for the Arts and Craft Movement, but the extension planned was never forthcoming because circumstances changed. The Burne-Jones’ lost their baby boy shortly after birth (he was premature) and the constant trips to London for business got too much for William Morris, so it was decided to move the family back to London. Morris could not bear to return to house once it was sold on. It was his dream home.

As readers to this blog will know, William Morris is a hero of mine and regularly crops up in posts! This house has been on my ‘hit list’ for many years and it did not disappoint. Entrance to the house is by tour only, booked in advance. It’s free to National Trust members. Not all the rooms are accessible, but enough. Owners after the Morris’ did paint over things, but on occasions left strips to show what it was like. Most of the furniture is not original (though there is little furniture anyway), but what is there is in keeping with the Arts and Craft Movement. Original pieces were gifted to museums. The Ashmoleum Museum in Oxford has some pieces (gifted by Janey Morris after William’s death) as Morris studied at the University as well as helped paint the Debating Chamber of the new Oxford Union, recruited by Rossetti. Other pieces can be found at other houses the Morris’ lived in and the museum in Walthamstow (Morris’ childhood home)

The inside of the front door is not original, but the then owner repainted it and followed the lines of the previous decoration. The stained glass was also added. I think it fits in well with the style.

The entrance hall is large and was used by the Morris’ as a dining hall. A table was moved into the space and lively conversation, as well as good food, would have made for an interesting evening with all of Morris’ friends. Morris was known for his love of food (Edward Burne-Jones often drew little cartoon sketches of Morris as round and jolly, and sometimes in a fit of temper, which his close friends seemed to encourage!). Morris also liked his drink and would come up from the cellar with several bottles of wine.

The settled in the entrance hall was designed by Philip Webb especially for the house. Morris painted the central panels with a scene from Malory (Sir Lancelot bringing Sir Tristram and the Belle Iseult to Joyous Gard). They include portraits of Janey (seated left) and Burne-Jones feeding a cherry to his wife Georgiana. However, the piece remains unfinished and was later painted green, and then brown during the second world war when the house was occupied by the National Assistance Board. I believe Rations Books may have been kept in in the settle cupboard!

The wallpaper in the house is not original as the house was pre-Morris’ wallpapers, but was added at a later date.

The dining room has a row of original William Morris chairs as well as a dresser designed by Webb and painted dragon’s blood red (in keeping with Red House!). This was a favourite colour of William Morris.

Kindy do not sit on the WIlliam Morris chairs!

Embroidered panel depicting Aphrodite designed by William Morris and believed to have been worked by Morris’ sister-in-law, Bessie Burden)

I loved the landing with its wood floor, sofa and beautiful windows worked by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones.

Not sure if this is original. I suspect not, but covered with William Morris fabric. (Landing)

William Morris’ bedroom was quite a surprise in that it was quite small. There were no furnishings here except wall paintings, unfinished and not in best condition. Those who came after Morris whitewashed the walls, but there are patches where you can see what was there before. Again, the paintings are unfinished.

Unfinished painted wall in the bedroom depicting characters from the Bible, including (far left) Adam and Eve

This wall hanging is a copy of one worked on by Janey Morris. The original is at Kelmscott

Morris’ studio. This is one of two wood blocks on show for Morris wallpapers

In the studio the walls are cracking! Apparently, the foundations were not sunk deep enough and lies on chalk. However, the outside cracks have been dealt with, but inside they have been left. I believe it was here that the extension was going to be placed for the Burne-Jones family.

Fireplace, drawing room. Apparently it was rather smoky!

The drawing room is upstairs (like the studio) and the room I most wanted to see as I’d seen images of it online. Look closely at some of these photos to spot the cracks in the walls!

The ceiling was painted over by a new owner, but he left a few strips of the original (he also put the false beams in to make it look more rustic!). The original ceiling would have looked like the photo below.

The piano was given by Ford Maddox Brown, a pre-Raphaelite artist

The settle in the drawing room was designed by William Morris for his Red Lion Square home, but when it moved here Philip Webb added the canopy and ladder to create a gallery where plays were performed. It also had another use as access to the massive loft space where things were stored. Little doors leading to places interest me. There is another door similar to this on the landing which we were told was used to go through to ‘clear the pigeons away’ as it went into loft space.

The wall decorations are by Edward Burne-Jones and Rossetti. They seem to be the only completed works in the house!

Wall painting by Edward-Burne Jones (top) decoration to the bottom (William Morris), drawing room

We were told that the house is freezing in the winter and hot in the summer. It was certainly very hot inside the day we were there, and not many windows open. (I did wonder whether the windows were too delicate to open or that they were worried about things inside being spoiled!)

Our tour was almost over. Downstairs there is a room given open as a museum with various information boards with the history of the house and objects belonging to Philip Webb and Morris. And then we went into the garden where we were free to roam.

The house exceeded my expectations. I may go back one day as it is a lot to take in. I loved the gardens, too. The house is only open on certain days of the week and there is no cafe any longer. However, there are the all important toilets! The nearest railway station is Bexleyheath with trains into London. However, due to a mistake (I hold my hands up to this one!), we went on a different train and ended up at Bexley. I have to say in hindsight, this turned out to be the best option. Bexley has a village feel whereas Bexleyheath is just like most big towns (Morris liked Bexley!). Bexleyheath is just a short bus ride away and we were able to stop and have some lunch. Coming from Bexleyheath station it is a bit of a walk to the town and then you have to walk back to the house. Had the cafe at Red House still been there, this would not be a problem.

The Bloomsbury Group and all that (Part 3)

Gate leading from Berwick Church which to me shouts an invitation!

Apologies for the delay in posting the final part of this trip. I have had a really busy week.

I left you as we departed Berwick Church, and headed to Bateman’s, the home of Rudyard Kipling.

This was an added bonus for me because though it has nothing to do with The Bloomsbury Group, it did play into my other passion – The Pre-Raphaelites, who I have written about a few times before on my blog. Rudyard Kipling’s aunt Georgiana Burne-Jones, nee McDonald, was married to Edward Burne-Jones, great friend of William Morris. The Burne-Jones and Kiplings had houses in Rottingdean in Sussex for a time.

However, Rudyard Kipling liked his privacy and wanted to escape his fame, and found Bateman’s which sits in grounds of its own away from the village and even further from a station. Even so, people did sometimes venture out to the house. There is a window where his wife could peep through to see who had knocked on the door. If it was some hopeful fan, the door wasn’t opened!

The downstairs rooms of the house are quite dark and there was no electricity when the Kiplings moved in. He was one of the earliest people to have electricity installed. It also made it easier for his servants. It seems he was quite a thoughtful employer. The dining room has original leather wallpaper which has been cleaned once, but they have to be careful now as it is so delicate. Like lino, it cracks.

Around the house are photos and plaques of Rudyard’s beloved India where he was born and later worked. However, he didn’t have a very happy childhood. He and his sister were sent back to England and looked after by a married couple. The lady did not take to Rudyard and preferred his sister. He had a miserable existence, due to neglect and cruelty, until his parents returned and removed them from the house.

Rudyard Kipling and his wife had three children. Josephine died aged 6, something that affected them deeply. Their son John died in the war. Their third daughter, Elsie, eventually married, but there were never any children.

I fell in love with Rudyard Kipling’s study where he wrote It is a large room with many book shelves, and a day bed where Rudyard would often mull over things when he got stuck with his writing. There is John’s old bedroom with his football boots and hockey sticks and photos of him in his army uniform

Outside there are lovely gardens, but due to lack of time we didn’t have quite enough time to visit them all. This would be worth a second visit – I shall have to persuade a friend with a car as local transport is still infrequent and there is a long walk. He really knew what he was doing, did Kipling.

Edward Burne-Jones’ painting of the three Kipling children

Windowsill with items about May Morris, daughter of William Morris

The Orange Tree embroidered by May Morris

The final day of our trip, we started off in Eastbourne and the Towner Art Gallery. Here we spent time in the gallery’s storage facilities. Metal frames on wheels were pulled out for us to view paintings that started their original collection. At that time, they were in a different building, which was part of a museum. I remember going there years ago. Now they have their own purpose built gallery almost on the seafront. We were shown paintings by Eric Ravilious, a particularly productive Sussex artist whose paintings I much enjoy, along with other artists of the same era, including Edward Bawden. The two of them worked together on murals for Morley Collage in London, but sadly they were destroyed by bombing in the war. Edward Bawden later painted some different murals for the college which can be seen in their refectory.

The main reason we were there was to see the preparation paintings for Berwick Church by Duncan Grant and Venessa and Quentin Bell. These were stored in a box with paper between the pictures. These were spread out for us on a table so we could look at them more closely.

Last time I said I had a story to tell about one of Duncan Grant’s paintings proposed for Berwick Church. The original painting was not acceptable to the Bishop due to (a) the rather serene looking face of Jesus and (b) Jesus was totally naked – no loin cloth. Now the model for this painting had to stand in the crucifixion pose for a very long time. He was plied with alcohol and tied to an easel. Even so, it was impossible for him to keep his arms straight for any length of time, which is why the arms sag. The serene face was due to all the alcohol consumed. It was possible he was totally out of it! However, the second painting (see below) was accepted.

I have to thank various people for these snippets which came via our gallery guide, other guides, and our leader on the tour. They know their stuff. Like the fact that the name Rudyard comes from the place he was conceived.

After time in the storage room, we went into one of the galleries and through to the library and Eric Ravilious’ room. This contains various paintings and ceramics. Well worth a second visit.

We had lunch close to the sea, under a tree to shelter from the spits and spots of rain. After lunch, we headed inland to visit our last house – Farleys House, which is between Eastbourne and Bexhill. I’d only heard about this house a few months earlier and wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew it was the home of Roland Penrose (Surrealist painter) and Lee Miller (photo journalist), but that was all. Well, I fell in love with house.

Sadly, no photography is allowed in the house, as it still belongs to the family, but the walls are brightly painted in yellow and light blue. In the dining room the fireplace has a beautiful wall painting by Roland of the sun and moon. The house had interesting visitors, one of whom was Picasso, and there is a tile painting of his by the Aga. Every space has something interesting to look at. Even in the hallway, paintings and sculptures fill corners and walls.

There is much I could say about the couple who lived in this house, but I would direct you to the website. When the couple moved here, Lee became interested in cooking. She sort of reinvented herself. Her past was shut away in attics which her son only found after she died. Her photography is still being collated and it is hoped that an exhibition of the photos she took after troops liberated the camps after the war will then go on show.

The garden is littered with sculptures of all kinds. Also on site is a warehouse/barn with some photographic exhibitions, Roland Penrose’ Jeep, as well as a second exhibition space, cafe and toilets.

Roland’s Jeep. He travelled around the world for several years in this

What do the Surrealists have to do with The Bloomsbury Group? Well, they came after them. It was perhaps a natural progression. Art always takes elements from a previous period and adds something new. Influences go a long way and you can often see aspects of another painter in the work of other artists. And then there are the rebellious ones!

I came home with all these images and thoughts running through my head. This holiday had been cancelled twice due to Covid. Third time lucky. It was worth the wait.