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One of my favourite Arts and Crafts gardens in Staffordshire is Wightwick Manor & Gardens, notable for its world-class collection of William Morris interiors and pre-Raphaelite artworks. The house boasts Arts & Crafts Gardens designed by Thomas Mawson, and a Victorian kitchen garden with heated peach house - so I was delighted to find out that the 2024 RHS Tatton Flower show garden silver gilt medal winner was the Grant Horticulture Arts & Crafts Garden. Whilst the Garden is not connected to Wrightwick mannor or indeed any other particular Morris residence, in terms of Arts & Crafts styling, perhaps it should be adopted. We think this RHS prize winning garden was worthy of a gold!
This garden is a celebration of architecture, gardening and craftsmanship, drawing on some of the key creative themes from the Arts & Crafts period to create a garden which is at once modern yet rooted in traditional practice and so our dear Lou could not resist the temptation of slipping our Morris inspired Moorcroft vase, Threads of Time by Nicola Slaney, into the garden, with happy permission of course, for a photoshoot. Key features of the garden include a range of hand-crafted, locally sourced items such as:
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- A wooden Pavilion constructed in a mortise and tenon style from locally felled sustainable timbers from Northumberland
- Hand painted stained glass panels crafted by a conservator and teacher from York Minster who is a fellow of The William Morris Craft Fellowship
- Red clay tile chimney sculptures constructed by the designer and path edge details created by a 200-year-old family brick maker using Etruria Marl clay from a Staffordshire quarry, the home of the potteries
- North Yorkshire produced willow domes and obelisks
- Contemporary hand-made furniture and light fittings rooted in traditional craftsmanship from the Howardian Hills of North Yorkshire
- A handmade Corten steel circular pond crafted in the Midlands
Accredited Contractor Grant Horticulture are partnering with The British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) and GoLandscape to promote careers in horticulture and landscaping and the benefit of using accredited Horticulture professionals to the public. By supporting local craftsmen and artisans, they are investing in their community and helping to preserve traditional skills and knowledge that have been passed down through generations. This helps stimulate the local economy and ensures that these valuable skills are not lost over time - something Moorcroft itself seeks to achieve.
The daisies in the garden really make the vase sing with tranquility- the art at home in the natural world and just outside the handcrafted blackened timber pavilion. The formal quadrant-style layout of the garden is softened and modernised using billowing grasses, multi-stem trees, and soft pastel-toned perennial plants, all beautifully mimicked in Threads of Time.
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In truth, the Moorcroft Threads of Time vase was inspired by Dearle not Morris. Dearle never sought to raise himself to the top of the mountain by effectively stealing the Morris halo. Instead, everything that he did was done for his mentor, friend and idol. Only in the 1980s, following intensive research by the Victoria and Albert Museum, was Dearle given his full credits and his designs are no longer attributed to Morris. This would have included the Owl and Pigeon, so admired by Nicola it wove its way into this design. In much the same way as this special garden at #RHSTattonPark this Arts and Crafts prestige vase is for the Moorcroft connoisseur and keeps the story of Morris and Dearle very much alive today.
Dearle created a trio of wall hangings entitled Owl and Pigeon c.1895, and they were bought from Morris & Co as work kits, and were all very ambitious projects. One such kit was bought by a very good client, Mrs Battye who embroidered her wall hanging in silks on silk damask between c.1898 and 1900 and which are now on display in the V&A Museum. By the end of his life, Dearle was one of those rare people who had no need to cling to the Morris name to carve out a career for himself. He was too good for that. Instead, he delivered an outpouring of excellence which was so good that when Morris died in October 1896, Dearle had been in effective charge of Morris & Co. since 1890. Not bad for a young lad who started his working life as a shop assistant under the watchful eye of Morris himself. No surprise also when you find that Dearle remained in charge of key sections of the Morris business until January 1932.
The Owl Panel. designed in the late 19th century by John Henry Dearle.
Copyright Victoria and Albert Museum, London, acc. no. T.369-1982.