His iconic designs may be popular around the world, but William Morris grew up in Woodford. With 2024 marking his 190th birthday, Emily Allen reflects on the life of an extraordinary artist
Almost two centuries after William Morris was born, his flora and fauna designs are enjoying a renaissance. Perennially popular in museums, recent interior design trends such as ‘Cluttercore’ have led to a spike in the sales of William Morris homeware in the UK and around the world, yet the inspirations for William’s timeless designs lie right on our doorstep.
William was born in Walthamstow in 1834 to a wealthy middle-class family. When he was six, the Morris family moved to Woodford Hall, an estate surrounded by 50 acres of land adjacent to Epping Forest. The house, which stood behind the current Woodford Parish Church Memorial Hall, was demolished in 1900 and is commemorated with a plaque at the front of the building. While living there, William attended a local preparatory school, the Misses Arundale’s Academy for Young Gentlemen, which soon moved its premises to George Lane.
William enjoyed rambling around Epping Forest and fishing in the River Roding. On walks with his father, he learned the names of colourful flowers and birds that he would later go on to recreate in his designs and tapestries. William enjoyed visiting the Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge in Chingford, and later wrote of the ‘impression of romance’ that the Tudor building, with its tapestries and embroideries, had on him as a child.
William’s father died when he was nine (he is buried in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church), and the family moved back to Walthamstow, living in Water House, which now houses the William Morris Gallery. After finishing his schooling, William entered Oxford University, where he first grew to spurn Victorian industrial capitalism.
He was apprenticed to an architect in 1856, but left to take up painting and poetry. In 1861, William co-founded the decorative arts company that would later become Morris & Co and crafted wall hangings and decorations by hand. The firm became immensely successful and saw William create some of his most famous wallpaper designs, including The Strawberry Thief. Yet, despite the heights of fame William achieved, he never forgot his early years in Woodford and Epping Forest, and in the 1890s, he took part in a campaign to save Epping Forest from being bought by developers, describing the forest as “always interesting and always beautiful.”
William died in 1896, yet his legacy survives all around us, in the fields and forests surrounding Woodford that he fought so hard to preserve. Walking through Epping Forest today, it is easy to see how such a beautiful landscape could have inspired William’s artistic success from a young age. Epping Forest stands as a living tribute to William and his work, and we are lucky to be able to call him one of Woodford’s own.
Emily Allen is a freelance writer. For more information, visit swvg.co.uk/allen
