Friends of Red House
Friends of Red House |
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The Tour Begins - The GardenThe Well: The tour starts outside in the garden by the well.
Morris believed that houses and gardens should flow into each other, and the well was meant to be the social centre of the house where people could sit, argue, discuss and gossip. The garden itself is now regarded as having had an important influence on English garden design, pointing the way forward for other gardeners such as Gertrude Jekyll and William Robinson. Fiona McCarthy, in her excellent biography of Morris , suggests that the garden might be more influential than the house . From this point, the medieval flavour of the building, which Sir Hugh Casson called ‘a miniature Camelot’ is most evident. Looking up to the roof it is possible to see the original weather vane with the White Horse of Kent and the words ‘WM 1859’ on it. The Pilgrim’s Rest: Through the small gothic arch by the well is the garden porch which Morris, always keen on the medieval and mindful of the nearby Pilgrim’s Way to Canterbury, called the Pilgrim’s Rest. Inside there are examples of original, if very faded tiles. Some have on them the Morris family crest, others Morris’s personal motto ‘Si Je Puis’ – ‘If I Can’.
There is still a croquet set in the porch, a reminder that both bowls and croquet were played by Morris and his friends on the lawns. |
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