Buildings which are representative of the British Arts and Crafts Movement
RODMARTON MANOR, near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, is one of the largest Arts and Crafts County Houses and was one of the last to be built. It was designed by Ernest Barnsley and built in the traditional style in which everything was done by hand with local stone, local timber and local craftsmen. Machine production, including the use of the circular saw was not allowed, all timber being sawn in a sawpit.
The Red House is perhaps the most famous Arts and Crafts House. It was designed by Philip Webb for William Morris in 1860 and built at Bexleyheath in Kent. The House is Gothic in flavour having pointed arches and steeply pitched roofs with an ornamental well and courtyard. The red tiles and red bricks with which it is constructed were carefully selected and arranged to give variation of colour and avoid the impression of mechanised uniformity. Stained glass and bulls eye glass are used in the windows and interior corridors.
Standen House in Sussex was designed by Philip Webb in 1891. Described as his masterpiece, this house demonstrates Webb passion for traditional building and local materials. The interior of the house was decorated by Morris and Co with lighting by W.A.S.Benson, and furniture included pieces by Webb, George Jack as well as contemporary companies such as Heals and Maples.
Built in 1887,Wightwick Manor, in Staffordshire was decorated by its owners, Theodore and Flora Manders using Morris and Co for many of the furnishings. Later additions to the building included the Great Parlour which was designed in the style of a Tudor Hall with screens, a minstrel gallery and exposed roof timbers. With Inglenook fireplaces, oak paneling and the frequent use of carved mottos the house must have been a source of inspiration for later Arts and Crafts Architects and designers.