Hammersmith Arts and Crafts Project Awarded Lottery Funds

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William Morris Society and Emery Walker Trust can now launch joint initiative

The William Morris Society and Emery Walker Trust have been awarded £631,100 by the Heritage Lottery Fund for a major Arts and Crafts project in Hammersmith.

The two organisations, who work to promote the lives, influences and collections of Morris and Walker from their former riverside homes, can now launch their joint Arts and Crafts Hammersmith initiative this year.

This venture will open up access to the rich collections of both partners and the wider histories – personal, social, political – of the Arts and Crafts movement, rooted in Hammersmith.

The project involves vital programmes of repairs, refurbishments and improvements to Walker’s house at 7 Hammersmith Terrace - the last surviving example in Britain of an authentic Arts and Crafts interior - and Morris’s home at Kelmscott House, a short distance away.

It gives both organisations the means fully to preserve and conserve the rich heritage in their care, and make it available for public enjoyment, study and learning, through traditional and digital forms.

The project also creates new opportunities for people to get involved through volunteering and skills development, and will establish a more sustainable and resilient future for both organisations.

Sue Bowers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London, says: " Given the proximity of these two riverside homes – shrines to the Arts and Crafts movement – we are delighted to support this joint project that will underline the close working relationship between its two leading exponents and provide valuable new insights into their artistic collaboration."

Arts and Crafts Hammersmith project manager Simon Daykin, says:" This project offers amazing potential for visitors near and far to discover the hidden stories of these influential men and their homes. With the Heritage Lottery Fund's investment, and the support of the project’s other supporters, we will make sure that everyone can discover, get involved and enjoy these treasure houses and what lies within: now and for the future."

The project begins with capital and conservation works at both houses from the end of 2015. The public will be able to enjoy new and improved facilities and activities from 2017.

The project has already secured over £100,000 in match funding from a range of charitable and private sources, including Garfield Weston Foundation, Ashley Family Foundation and Heritage of London Trust. Attentions are now on securing the final funds to complete the project in 2018.

January 8, 2015