Heritage, Volume 8, Number 3, Summer 1990 Page: 6
30 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
William Morris and the Anti-Scrape Society
Reflections on the Origin of an Ethos
William ChapmanM any of the assumptions
and preoccupations
of modern p
historic preservationists today
can be traced directly to a series
of nineteenth-century debates
on the relationship of art to
society and on the place of
"restoration" in the wider
context of building practice.
One of the main figures in these
debates, and the person most
associated with early preservation
practice, was the English
poet, craftsman, artist, and
political propagandist William
Morris. Morris was profoundly
affected by the arguments of the
art and social critic John
Ruskin, in particular, that a
sympathetic social context was
important to artistic production-including
preservationrelated
craftsmanship and that
attempts to "restore" older
buildings to original appear-William Morris, age fifty-three, fr
ances (usually idealized) was an William Morris, Vol. 1.
implicitly fraudulent activity.
Morris attempted to be true to
his own dictates, integrating the production of furniture, tapestries
and wallpaper, with campaigning on behalf of the socialist cause
and, most significantly, fighting for the protection of historic
buildings. Morris, in short, saw historic preservation as simply one
facet of a broader program of reform. This paper re-examines
Morris' involvement in early preservation work, especially his
central role in the foundation of the pioneering preservation
organization, the Society for Protection of Ancient Buildings
(known as the Anti-Scrape Society for its opposition to a common
restoration practice), and suggests ways that his involvementand
the strictures resulting from that involvement- continue to
resonate in the field today. Many historic preservationists bring to
their work an intuitive sense of what is wrong and what is right
about the built environment. Many, too, perceive their roles in a
wider context-touching not only upon the protection of
individual historic monuments or sites, but as part of a broader
effort to improve the "quality of life." William Morris' work
provides an instructive vehicle for examining the roots of many
preservationists' assumptions about the nature of their profession
and the role of historic preservation in helping to restructure, as
well as "protect," the built and natural worlds.)m J
William Morris arrived at
his strong stand on historic
preservation by way of a
gradual and, in many ways
contradictory, series of decisions
and alliances. Born in
1834 to wealthy parents
living outside London, Morris
was caught up as a child in
the essentially romantic
ideals of aristocratic medievalism.
J. W. Mackail, his
first and official biographer,
reports that by the age of
seven Morris had read all of
Sir Walter Scott's Waverly
novels.' As a young child he
and his father studied old
churches and made brass
rubbings, common antiquarian
pastimes of the 1830s and
1840s. Though raised an
Evangelical, he was sent to
relatively High-Church
Marlborough College (a
[.W. Mackail, The Life and Work of newer boys school) and in
1852 entered Exeter College,
Oxford, intending to take
orders in the Anglican
Church. While at college, Morris considered becoming a Roman
Catholic-the Oxford Movement, a church movement advocating
a return to pre-Reformation religious practices, was still
strong at Oxford d, ring Morris' time-and he attended plain-song
services with friends such the well-known painter and later fellow
Anti-Scrape Society member Edward Burne-Jones. Gradually,
however, Morris assumed a more secular outlook and became
involved with a group of more socially concerned students. John
Henry Newman and the Tracterians, the main proponents of a
return to early, more Roman Catholic church practices, were
gradually replaced by Charles Kingsley, Thomas Carlyle, and John
Ruskin in his readings. The example of the pre-Raphaelites and
German Nazarenes, both idealistic fraternities of artists, helped
inspire a new vision of a secular brotherhood founded on the
broader, though still highly romantic, principles of Christian
fellowship.
In 1856 Morris took a more practical turn and signed on as an
apprentice with the Oxford architect, George Edmund Street.
Morris found the work frustrating. Philip Webb, a co-worker in
Street's office, said Morris would "beat his head with his fists"
whenever he made a mistake.2 After nine months, Morris left to6 HERITAGE * SUMMER 1990
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 8, Number 3, Summer 1990, periodical, Summer 1990; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45427/m1/6/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.