VICTORIAN 1837 - 1900

Arts and Crafts

The Arts and Crafts style was one of many revivals in architecture. In the first half of the eighteenth century, as the mass production of building materials, including tiles, bricks and fireplaces, became commonplace, individuals began to voice their concerns that the traditional building practices that relied on the skill of individual craftsmen were being undermined. The use of pre-fabricated elements and standard plans for every type of building, from terraced houses to town halls and public baths, led to a sameness and even monotony of architectural style. This continued until the 1860s and 70s when new approaches to design were pioneered.

The term ‘Arts and Crafts’ was first used in 1888 at a meeting of young members of the Royal Academy who were frustrated by the low status afforded to the applied and decorative arts. Its origins came from the writings of John Ruskin who advocated the importance of the individual craftsman. In 1861, William Morris took the principles further by establishing his own firm where designers and practitioners of the applied arts worked on commissions.

The Arts and Crafts Movement affected all walks of life and followers believed that a well-designed environment would improve society. The proliferation of pattern books, design guides and magazine articles meant that some of the details from the Arts and Crafts Movement were copied by speculative builders and they appeared in various guises across the country.

The renewed interest in vernacular architecture promoted by those involved in the Movement influenced new housing developments such as Port Sunlight in Cheshire (1880) and the later phase of building in Sion Mills, county Tyrone(1880-90).

Leaders of the Arts and Crafts Movement were concerned about the widespread practice of stripping later elements of old buildings and restoring them to an earlier historical period. William Morris and others formed the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). Their manifesto, issued in 1877, states

‘It is for all these buildings, therefore, of all times and styles, that we plead, and call upon those who have to deal with them, to put Protection in the place of Restoration, to stave off decay by daily care, to prop a perilous wall or mend a leaky roof by such means as are obviously meant for support or covering, and show no pretence of other art, and otherwise to resist all tampering with either the fabric or ornament of the building as it stands; …thus, and thus only can we protect our ancient buildings and hand them down instructive and venerable to those that come after us.’