Kelmscott Manor, set in the meadowland of the upper Thames valley, was the country home of William Morris.
The poet, craftsman and socialist made Kelmscott Manor his occasional residence from 1871 until his death in 1896.
The house was built in 1570 by Richard Taylor, a wealthy farmer. It was enlarged around 100 years later by one of his descendants but from that period onwards the house was little altered and remained the centre of a working farm until the mid-19th century.
The house was originally leased by Morris but in 1913 his widow Jane bought Kelmscott Manor and its immediate surroundings.
On the death of their daughter May in 1938 the house passed first to the University of Oxford and then in 1962 to the Society of Antiquaries.
The Society still owns Kelmscott Manor and it has carefully refurnished the house with a collection of hangings, textiles, carpets, pictures, ceramics and furniture that belonged to Morris.
Many of these pieces came originally from Kelmscott House in Hammersmith, the Morris's London home. Kelmscott Manor now provides a facinating insight into the life of William Morris and his associates in the Arts and Crafts movement.
Morris chose Kelmscott Manor not only for its remote rural location but also for its fine domestic architecture.
The grey stone house consists of a gabled two-storeyed hall block with a slightly taller extension to the right, dated 1670. Wings extend back from the main block on the west side and here a conical roofed outbuilding has survived.
The mullioned windows, triangular gables, stone-tiled roof and tall chimneys reflect the local vernacular tradition that Morris so admired. Kelmscott Manor is entered through a screens passage which gives access to the Old Hall and the North or Garden Hall beyond.
A number of Morris fabrics and hangings are on display here.
These include embroideries made for the Red House in Bexleyheath, the Morris's country home from 1860 - 65. On the walls are charcoal studies of the Signs of the Zodiac by Edward Burne-Jones.
The Panelled Room, in the late-17th century wing, has white-painted wood panelling and a carved stone chimneypiece and paintings including paintings of Jane Morris and the Morris's two daughters, by the pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
Rossetti painted many pictures of Jane Morris, with whom he had an affair, in part at Kelmscott Manor.
The Green Room on the other side of the Garden Hall was a parlour in the original 16th century house and contains a number of Morris chintze.
On the first floor Jane Morris's bedroom contains the bed in which William Morris was born at his father's house in Walthamstow - now the William Morris Gallery.
William Morris's bedroom has a 17th century four-poster bed with embroidered hangings made by May Morris.
The Tapestry Room, in the 17th century wing, has a set of mid-17th century Brussels or Antwerp tapestries completely covering the walls. This room was used as a studio by Rossetti from 1871 - 74.
Attic rooms contain green-painted furniture created by Ford Maddox Brown for Morris & Co in 1862 - 63.
One of the barns at in the grounds contains an exhibition of 'William Morris at Kelmscott'. Morris and his followers were attracted by the medieval feel of the village of Kelmscott and several cottages were later built there by Philip Webb and Ernest Gimson in Morris's memory.
Morris was buried in the shadow of the medieval village church in 1896 and his gravestone was designed by Webb.
2008: House and Garden: Wed 11:00-17:00. Ticket office opens 10:30. Last etry 16:30. Saturdays on Apr 19, May 17, Jun 21, Jul 5 & 19, Aug 2 & 16, Sept 20. All 14:00-17:00, Ticket office opens 1.15pm. Last entry 16:30 Timed tickets.
Tel: 01367 252486 Kelmscott Manor Website
