KELMSCOTT MANOR, THE HOME OF W ILLIAM MORRIS

AND ITS REPAIR FOR THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF LONDON

Kelmscott Manor stands in the remote river plainlandscape of the upper reaches of the Thames inOxfordshire; a region of old stone buildings protectedby great clusters of elms. Although the name ' Manor ,

has no historical justification, it indicates the importanceof the house to the neighbouring village; a small quietsettlement of cottages and barns, built of the localCotswold stone and slate and with a strong affinityto its landscape. The Manor is surrounded by its owncollection of outbuildings, two splendid and almostcathedral-like barns, a dovecote, a privy; alI the neces-sary appurtenances of an EngIish yeoman farmer'shouse. The scenery, although not spectacular, is beauti-

ful in its own way, with splendid wide skies abovethe gentle meandering river: moss and lichens growreadily on the stones, and the buildings are in harmo-nious repose with their surroundings.Kelmscott Manor is of two dates; the main earlier partwas built in about 1570, and the later additions we.remade in 1670. Building methods and styles in thisCotswolds region remained virtually unchanged forseveral centuries, atthough the 17th-century additions,with their classical pediments over the windows andtheir more splendid panelled interiors, show how theRenaissance had made its mark even in this remotearea. The Turner family, whose arms appear on the

Fig. 1. -Kelrnscott Manor frorn the north west, after renovation.

sity of Oxford together with a small endowment, makingextremely strict conditions regarding its use and repair .Paradoxically, under these stringencies it became infact increasingly difficult for the house to be maintainedas a living memorial to Morris. It was obviouslydesirable that the house should continue to functionas a true fanlily home, whilst at the same timeproviding public access to the possessions of Morrisand his circle. But under the terms of May Morris'swill, it proved impossible to carry out proper repairsor to provide modern comforts and improvements. Notenant would pay an economic rent for a house withsuch restrictions and such lack of amenities. Thus itdeclined, until ,eventually in 1960 the University wereable, by complex legal maneovres, to prove the willinvalid. They then required the Manor to pass intothe hands of the residuary trustees of May Morris, theSociety of Antiquaries of London.The new Owners, released from the restrictive will,decided that the house must be thoroughly and sympa-thetically repaired and modernised, whilst maintainingand improving the public access to the rooms mostclosely associated with Morris. This work has DOWbeen completed; and the house truly lives again, both

Fig. 3. -William Morris, aged about 53.

Fig. 2. -Frontispiece of News from Nowhere, showing theeast front of Kelmscott (Kelmscott Press 1892) as drawn byC. M. Gere. The border was designed by Morris. The 17th-century wing is on the righI.

chimney-pieces of the later rooms, rented and laterowned the house for most of its life. It was from abranch of this family that in 1871, William Morris andDante Gabriel Rossetti took a joint tenancy of thehouse.Morris needed a country retreat from the enormousand increasing pressures of his life in London, asmost people do, and fell in love with Kelmscott onfirst sight. He wrote :" I have been looking about for a house for the wife

and Kids and whither do you guess my eye is turnednow ? Kelmscott, a little village about two miles aboveRadcott Bridge -a heaven on earth."Morris continued to rent the Manor and spent moreand more of his time there until his untimely deathin 1896 at the age of 62.Some years later, his widow Janey bought the housewith some acres about it, and it duly passed to theiryounger daughter, May, who lived there until her deathin 1938. May was a woman of strong character whoidealised her father and was determined that the Manorshould remain as it had been during his life. According-ly, in her will, she bequeathed the house to the Univer-

" What I wish for therefore, is that an association

should be set on foot to keep a watch on old monuments,to protest against alI' restoration ' that means more

than keeping out wind and weather, and, by all means,literary and other, to awaken a feeling that our ancientbuildings are not mere ecclesiastical toys, but sacredmonuments of the nation's growth and hope. "

On the 22nd March 1877 the Society for the Protectionof Ancient Buildings, affectionately from its birth called, Anti Scrape " was formed by Morris, who acted as

its first Secretary and enlisted the help of many eminentpeople of the time. Morris's manifesto for the Societyremains today unalte:red, the aims, ideals and challengesof the Society being unchanged nearly a century later .Morris indeed laid down the whole foundation of muchof the modern philosophy and practice in the care ofold buildings.

as a pleasing country home and as a memorial toMorris. That this is so, is due to the altruism of theSociety of Antiquaries, who most admirably put farmore into the enterprise than could ever be justifiedin terms of financial return.Kelmscott, although a beautiful house in an idyllicset ting, is neither large, nor stately, nor architecturallyremarkable. Its wide reputation is in fact due almostentirely to its association with William Morris duringhis most active period. Already established as freethinker, designer and craftsman, Morris had also turnedhis attention to the conservation of historic buildings.ln a letter to the Athenaeum of the 10th March 1877,he protested against the harsh and insensitive Victorianrestoration that every Parish Church was suffering, andpleaded for a society to be formed to protect oldbuildings from these 'acts of barbarism'.

Fig- 4- Ground Floor plan of Kelmscott after renovation.

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The main message of this rnanifesto for the S.P.A.B.is simple; to treat old buildings with sensitivity andhumility and with a conservative hand, preservingeverything possible of value from their past. Theenergies of the rime were being directed almost exclu-sively to the conjectural restoration of the great MedievalChurches, by which their history was stripped awayto an arbitrary point in time. ln practice today, thereare considerable difficulties in rigidly applying Morris'sprinciples to the alteration or conversion of houseslike Kelmscott. Modernisation is often the only practicalmeans by which they can be saved, and some signsof history must be sacrificed. ln such cases therefore,it is necessary both to interpret and to develop Morris'sphilosophy, and individual compro~ise must result.But the basis of the manifesto remains totally valid;there must be absolute conviction of the priceless andirreplaceable value of our old buildings and of thenecessity to conserve them and to continue their living

history.

The commission, in 1968, to work upon Morris's ownhome was indeed al challenge. The brief was admirablyclear and direct -to repair the building, to rationaliseits twin functions of family home and show place forthe Morris possessions, and to provide good modernfacilities for each. ln practice, the work was unusuallydifficult, due mainly to the advanced result of negIectupon a basically vulnerable construction. But the firstneed, to rationalise Kelmscott's planning problems, was

comparatively simple.The plan of the oJriginal house was very typical of itstime, a half ' H ' or as Morris put it, " ln plan the

shape of an' E' ",ith the tongue cut out ". The mainentrance led into a screened passage leading rightthrough the house, serving a simple arrangement ofrooms. The larger 17th-century rooms with sympatheticclassical details Wf:re added in a square block at thenorth east corner. The arrangement of the house badbeen a problem since the days when it was first openedto the public after May Morris's deatb. Broadly

speaking, the central and south sections are the tenant'sliving rooms. The North roonis are those especiallyassociated with Morris and his circle, which containtheir possessions, and are thus the showrooms. Theprime difficulty was that these two functions werehopelessly confused. The public visiting the Morrisroorns had necessarily to enter through the east domesticdoor, straight into and through the private part ofthe house. They then went upstairs to the Morris roomsat the north end, but to get to the great At tics, hadto retrace their path through the private part of thehouse, to the south circular stairs and then back again.With the increasing public interest in Morris, it wasobvious that more visitors 'would be coming to Kclm-scott and that the circulation had to be re-ordered.The solution was happiJy quite straightforward andinvolved no new physical barrier between the two halvesof the house. At the north end, a new porch entryfor visitors was added, designed in the stiJl validCotswold vernacular .This restores the doorway to its

former and rightful position, and incorporates a smallcloakroom for the use of visitors. To give access tothe at tic from the north end of the upper floor, asplit stair was insertl~d, of the only type that would goin the space available. These arrangements enable thevisitor to enter and leave at the north end, thusmaintaining the privacy of the domestic south sectionof the house.The private living quarters had become seriously ill-equipped for modern living standards. The main featureof the Kitchen was its only fit ting apart from a shabbysink -a monstrous and obsolete heating boiler .At~empts had been made to improve sanitary conve-niences by adding a cloakroom with a cheap pseudo-Gothic door. This however was badly placed, blockingthe original screens passage doorway to the rear ofthe house. The solitary fir~t floor Bathroom containedantiquated fittings, and when formed had been givenan ugly and inharmonious window, conspicuously pla-ced upon the entrance front. AlI services were minimal

reprint from Morris' original blocks, produced by Messrs. San-derson Ltd.

Fig. 7, 8. -The east bathroom before and after re-conditioning.The wallpaper, here and elsewhere in the Manor, is a modern

Disfiguring partitions were removed to reinstate theoriginal room arrangements, and the 17th-centuryscreen was restored to its rightful position. Laterwindows were removed and altered originals reinstated.Spacious, convenient and delightful living accommoda-tion has resulted, fully evocative of the original interiors,and harmony has returned to the exteriors.Whilst rationalisation of the planning of KelmscottManor was a comparatively simple matter, its structuralrepair produced many problems, due to extensive andserio~s defects. When first inspected in 1963, the housewas a melancholy sight. Signs of decay were everywhere,from the ravages of damp at ground level, destroyingfloor carpets and wall pl aster alike, to the holes in thestone roof slating, patched with roofing felt but stilladmit ting the rain. This was not the " slow and gentledecay " of which Morris once wrote, but an altogether

more savage and destructive attack.

and obsolete, doors and fittings mainly so worn as tobe unserviceable and decorations virtually non-existent.Some of the rooms had been sub-divided with cheappartitioning, and a fine and unusual 17th-century oakscreen had been removed from the north EntranceHall and patched up to partition a bedroom. Externaldoors and windows had been blocked, interchanged or

altered, resulting in architectural anarchy.The private accommodation was ilccordingly re-orderedand equipped to a good standard of present day conven-ience. A new Kitchen w~ formed in the formerScullery, and the old Kitchen was converted into aDining Room. The intrus ive cloakroom was demolishedand a new one formed in the service wing. Three newBathrooms were formed, and fully adequate serviceswere installed, together with central heating, the latterbeing underfloor in the principal ground floor rooms.

and filled with a core of river mud and pebble.

Paradoxically, this non-homogeneous construction hadIargely enabled the building to survive for four centuriesthe wet and unstable ground of its riverside site. Theresultant unequal foundation settlement would almostcertainly have caused severe and damaging cracks ina more monolithic construction. But the lack of bondand the weak lime mortar joints of the walls meantthat movement cou!d be taken up relatively harrnlesslyby the graduaI re-adjustment of individual stones, insteadof a crippling break-Iine fracture. Nevertheless thewalls had little strength to resist unaccustomed Ioadsand pressures causl~d by changed conditions, so thatserious and rapid failure was beginning to result. Atthe north end of the house, just such a situation wasfound. Here, a recent re-arrangement of external doorsand windows had weakened the wall. lnstead of being

As always, most of the problems had resulted from thenatural ageing of structure and materials, acceleratingfar beyond the degree of repair and maintenancewhich the building had received. But inherent weak-nesses in its original construction also made it alI themore vulnerable to the normal processes of ageing.This was not a first apparent, and the building's super-ficial defects tended often to mask the seriousness ofits more deep-seated problems. These could only befully revealed by deep probing. It was thus characteris-tic of Kelmscott's ailments that the further they wereexposed, the worse they were seen to be.Problems associated with the external stone walls ofthe house were a case in point. They are thick andmassive and appear strong. But when opened up, theirconstruction proved to be no more than a sandwichof thin inner and outer skins of small stones, unbonded

Fig. 9. -The garden hall showing (background, right) the recess of a window of the original house blocked by the Turneraddition beyond. The screen, originally glazed, had earlier been moved elsewhere and boarded over.

and it is thought th,at this room influenced Morris and PhilipWebb, who was a frequent visitor, in creating the contemporaryliking for plain white walls. The painting over the fireplace(" The Tulip Garden ") is by Peter Breughel the Younger.

Fig. 10. -The panelled room in the seventeenth-century partof the house. The classical details of panels and fireplaceindicate the architectural refinements of this section. Thepanelling was painted white when Morris first rented the house,

evenly distributed, the very heavy roof and floor loading,together with the self-weight of the gabled upper wall,had been wholly concentrated upon two slender piersbelow. These, unable to support the load, had firstlysubsided, and secondly split and buckled. A major sec-tion of the wall was thus in danger, and indeed part didcollapse during the works.Morris's own principles indicate how repairs shouldbe tackled in cases such as these. He wrote :" Often, no doubt, some subsidence of the soil, or

what not, may endanger an old building; but always,if it is well looked after, the said danger can be metby the engineering skill of the day, and the buildingmay be made absolutely sound without any tamperingwith the surface. .."

Sophisticated repair techniques can usually fulfil thisedict, and the stJ.ucture can be saved with a minimumof disturbance to the original work. ln the north wall,a reinforced concrete beam was inserted, set length bylength into the core of the wall. This at the same timeevenly re-distributed the heavy loads and also tiedtogether the loo!:e masonry.Eisewhere too, tlle strength and adaptability of reinfor-ced concrete enabled serious defects to be remediedby conservative repair .A great central stone chimneystack was found to be set eocentrically upon its baseand widely cantilevered outwards at one side. Thisprojection was supported on a heavy oak bressumer ,carried in turn upon plates built into the masonry.But aIl the timber, carrying the great weight of masonry

The timbers throughout the ground and first floorswere in poor condition, and many were decayed bywet rot and beetù: attacks. These had been largelyencouraged by severe rising damp throughout thebuilding, causing also serious damage to jojnery, plasterand finishes.The damp was combated in two ways. The outsidewalls were protectt:d by a drained ' dry area ' outside

-that is to say, a system of gravel filled trenchesincorporating porotls drains to collect the ground waterand carry it away from the building. Inside, the earthbased ground floors were taken up and reconstructedin concrete, incorpl)rating damp proof polythene mem-branes, above which were laid the under-floor heatingpipes and the timber and stone slab floor finishes.The upper outside walls were then repaired. Decayedtimber lintols over Clpenings were replaced with concrete,which was also u:;ed to back-reinforce the tottering

above, was completely rotten. Tell-tale cracks hadaiready appeared in the stonework above and spokeof its failure. Here, the rotten timbers were little bylittle carefully removed, and replaced by concrete under-pinning, bonded securely to the old stonework. Anyother method would have necessitated the demolitionand rebuilding of the whole of the chimney, at greatexpense and with much loss of original work.Perhaps the most. serious example of Kelmscott's, penchant' for concealing its worst defects was found

in Morris's own Bedroom. Here, investigation of asag in the ceiling revealed that a great mass of masonry,carrying in tum part of the roof, was supported by asingle oak plank, no thicker than a broom handle. Itsdeflection showed that it was literally at breaking pointand a catastrophic collapse could have occurred at anytime. This again was shored up and replaced withreinforced concrete, without further disturbance.

Fig. II. -Kelmscott Manor from the north-east before renovation was started.

Fig. 13. -A cutaway section of an extemal wall of the Manor,showing the inner and outer skins of sroall stones with a coreof loose rubble and roud.

Fig. 14. -The north front of the Manor, before the recent

renovations, showing the disfigurements caused by piecemeal

alterations, and the weakening of the central section.

Fig. 15. -The North Elevation as it now is, re-ordered and with the new porch and public entrance.The dotted lines show the position of the reinforced concrete beam inserted length by length to distribute the weight.

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Fig. 16. -The condition of the base of the central chimneystack as revealed by opening np.

Fig. 17. -The great weight of masonry supporting the atticfloor, chimney and roof which was found to be bearing uponan oak board, oru: inch thick. This was greatly deflected andupon the point of collapse.

The worst of the timber problems were found in thecomplex roofs of the building. The heavy stone slatingwas laid upon elm rafters, which in turn were supportedby oak principals and trusses. The slating had beenleaking for many years, due to corrosion of the ironnail fixings, an,j the timbers we.re terribly damaged byrot and beetle. Even where patches of tiling had beenre-Iaid, the added felt underlay had increased theproblem by causing condensation. The roofs were there-fore totally stripped, section by section. The vulnerableelm raftef:s were found so weakened that nine out often had to be renewed. ln this, new semi-seasoned oakwas used. The heavy oak framing was more resistant,but when decayed produced greater problems. ln onecase, both ends and the centre of a main roof truss

gables. Plastic stone was used to repair decayingwindow stonework, but at higher levels the attritionof parapets and finials was so bad that they neededrenewal in natural stone. Much of the stonework wascarefully re-pointed. Hard cernent had been used inthe past, but this was often found to be paper-thin;and when rernoved, it revealed large cavities in thewal1ing behind.In the internai first floor tirnbers, rnuch use was madeof rnild steel angles and plates to restore strength todecayed joints. Sornetirnes new tirnber had to bescarfed in, and occasionally cornplete tirnbers neededrenewal. AlI tirnber, old and new, was chernicallytreated against beetle and rot before new el rn boardfloors were laid.

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22. -The slates being re!aid as before in diminishing courses,the smallest to the ridge.

2i. -A thin partition be1ow, distorted by the ab normal roof

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At length, the fiinishing works were begun. Outside,the leaded windows were re-made, and the inefficientand unsightly ca,st iron gutters and downpipes werereplaced with traditional simple cedarwood gutters, setas spouts to discharge clear of the building. Lead para-pet gutters were renewed; and each section, formerlyinaccessible for I1llaintenance, was provided with a COfl-cealed trap door .Inside, the final works of reinstatement began. Themajor problems :)eemed over; but even to the end, thebuilding coocealed its worst troubles. The old circularwooden stair at the south end had two dangerouslyworn treads. It was decided to renew them -appar-ently a simple matter. But when removed, it wasrevealed that they had merely been nailed over anearlier, and totally decayed timber stair. This too hadto be taken away and proved in turn to be resting

beam aIl proved to have been totally de.stroyed. As aresult, the great weight of roof, which should haveconveyed to the outside walls, was bearing insteadupon thin internaI partitions. These were flexed likea bow by the unaccustomed load, and the thin oakground floor screens had been punched several inchesinto the wet ground. A new oak beam was inserted,and metal and timber insertions again restored structural

logic.Chemical treatment again followed repair; and finallythe stone tiles were relaid, but this time over aninsulated construction and with noli-ferrous nails, Theslates were hung, as before, in diminishing courses; asMorris put it -" sized down, the smaller towards

the top, and the bigger towards the eaves, which givesone the same sort of pleasure in their orderly beautyas a fishes' scales or a bird's feathers ".

Fig. 23, 24. -The former Victorian grate in the dining room (above) and the original stone fireplace discovered behind il (below)and left exposed.

its gap and v"as al ive with the spirit of the deeds donemidst its fashioning ". But problems arise when thelegacies of history must needs be disturbed, for repair.Again, each case can only be decided upon its merits.Kelmscott provided two contrasting examples, uponwhich differing decisions were made. ln the DiningRoom of the house, a mid-19th-century iron grate hadto be remove:d during repairs to the chimney. Behindwas found a splendid 16th-century stone fireplace. Theproblem here was to decide which should be retainedfor the futurl~ -the relatively worthless grate, whichhowever served the room when Morris knew it, orthe stoneworl., which though of infinitely greater valuewas not feature of' Morris's Kelmscott ' ? Here it was

simply on a pile of loose stones which disintegratedcompletely when the stair was removed; so that asimple decision to renew two worn treads resulted inthe necessity of putting in a whole new staircase fromtop to bottom.ln such ex amples as have been de,scribed, a literalinterpretation of Morris's philosophy of conservativerepair is often difficult and sometimes impossible. Butnevertheless, these principles win always form a soundfoundation for repair work, however far it is ultimatelynecessary to develop and interpret them for eachproblem. The same difficulties apply to the tangibleevidence of a building's history .Morris wrote -" every

change, whatever history it destroyed, left history in

Fig. 25. -Morris' bedroom with the early seventeenth-century bed. The valance displays a poem written by Morris in 1891, forthe bed and the hangings and cover were embroidered by his daughter May. ThE' colours have been restored to their originalstrength and freshness.

decided that the original fireplace was of over-ridingvalue and interest, and it was carefully conserved andleft exposed as a fine and veracious feature of the roorn.But in Morris's Bedroorn, when a blocked 16th-centurywindow opening was discovered, it was decided thatpriority should here be given to retaining the roornas Morris knew it. So it was carefully covered in again.When the re-decoration of the house carne to beconsidered, there was really very little doubt thatMorris's own wallpaper designs should again be used.The original papers were so darnaged and rnutilatedas to be beyond repair. But the designs are in anycase as valid Dow as when they were first designed,and fortunately they rernain readily available. So the

glowing wallpapers once more provide a backgroundfor the superb possessions of the house, the worksof Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones,William de Mor!:an, Philip Webb, Ford MaddoxBrown; but mainly of Morris himself. AlI the contentshave been carefully repaired and cleaned, and like allthe work to the house itself, this has been an objectlesson of patient, sensitive and intelligent craftsmanship.William Morris loved craftsmanship; and one feels thatthis aspect at least would have pleased hill. Conversely,he was the inspiration for the work and at KclmscottManor one can evoke hill. All who worked at the bousegrew to love it, but none more than he did. It is bestdescribed finally inl his own words :

Fig. 26. -The construction of the floor of the tapestry room is geometrical in design. This was a device reputedly introducedby a professor of geometry at Oxford University in the seventeenth century as a means of constructing long spans with lengthsof timber shorter than the span.

" A house that I love; with a reasonable love I think :

for though my words may give you no idea of anyspecial charm about it, yet I assure you that the charmis there; so much has the old house grown up out ofthe soil and the lives of those that live on it: somethin thread of tradition, a half-anxious sense of thedelight of meadow and acre and wood and river; acertain amount (not too much let us hope) of commonsense, a liking j'or making materials serve one's tum,and perhaps at bot tom some little grain of sentiment :this I think was what went to the making of the oldhouse. "

Acknowledgeme,'lts : In the preparation of this articleI am greatly indebted to the assistance of my associate,Peter E. Locke. We would like to thank the Society ofAntiquaries for their whole hearted support throughoutthis challenging restoration project.

Donald W. INSALL

(London)

Fig. 27. -The main staircase in the earlier part of the house.

RESUME

Le Manoir de Kelmscott est une maison en pierre d'unetrès grande beauté, située au milieu des prés tranquilleset fréquemment inondés qui bordent la Tamise dans lapartie nord de l'Oxfordshire. Par son style c'est unecréation typique de l'architecture domestique des XVleet XVII" siècles dans la région des Cotswold. Le corpsde bâtiment principal est une simple ferme de paysanpropriétaire de la deuxième moitié du XVle siècle; maisil a été très sensiblement agrandi un siècle plus tard,dans un style un peu plus élégant et avec des détails oùon relève les signes d'un classicisme encore tâtonnant.Il en résulte un ensemble architectural hautement pitto-resque, ramassé sur lui-même, sous des toits aux pentesabruptes, en pierre du pays.

La célébrité d(: la maison repose essentiellement sur lequart de siècle pendant lequel son destin est resté lié àcelui de William Morris, fondateur de la Société Pro-tectrice des Bâtiments Anciens. Morris avait loué lamaison en 1871 et il l'a conservée comme maison decampagne jusqu'à sa mort en 1896. Elle fut achetéealors par sa veuve, et demeura propriété de la famillejusqu'en 1937. Pendant toute cette période elle abritaitune grande partie des plus belles reuvres d'art et d'ar-tisanat laissées par Morris et son entourage; mais cesobjets étaient éparpillés dans les différentes pièces, sanssouci de prés,entation, parmi le bric-à-brac familial,et rarement montrés aux visiteurs. De plus, le bâtimentétait en mauvais état, la raison en étant, en partie -

et paradoxalement -le refus tout à fait compréhen-sible de la famille d'admettre la moindre transformationsusceptible de porter atteinte à sa force évocatrice.Par conséquent, lorsque, en 1960, la maison fut acquisepar la Société des Antiquaires de Londres, son actuelpropriétaire, celle-ci se trouva devant un certain nom-bre de problèmes spécifiques quand il a fallu songerà son réaménagement et à son affectation future. D'uncôté, en raison de l'intérêt croissant du public à l'égardde la personnalité de Morris, on pouvait s'attendre àune augmentation du nombre des visiteurs. De l'autre,il avait été décidé que le Manoir devait demeurer essen-tiellement un lieu d'habitation et non un musée. Enfait, les deux fonctions jumelées: musée et demeure,s'entremêlaient, auparavant, à un point tel qu'aucunedes deux n'était remplie correctement et qu'une incer-titude totale régnait quant au destin futur du bâtimentet de sa solidité. On est parvenu à la conclusion quecertains réaménagements et certaines nouvelles instal-lations intérieures étaient indispensables; ces travauxont représenté, d'ailleurs, une fraction importante del'ensemble des opérations de réparation et de réno-vation dont l'exécution s'est échelonnée d'avril 1965à octobre 1967.Une solution au problème central finit par être trou-vée : il suffisait de réaménager le Manoir de manièreà séparer les « chambres Morris)} de la partie qui devaitdemeurer habitée. Une ancienne entrée secondaire aété réouverte à l'usage du public, pour lui permettred'accéder directement aux salles d'exposition. On y aajouté un porche abritant un vestiaire. A l'intérieur,on a prolongé l'escalier existant d'une volée condui-sant jusqu'aux greniers, pour permettre d'accéder àceux-ci sans passer par les pièces habitées. C'est ainsique les « chambres Morris)} constituent tantôt unensemble autonome, tantôt -lorsque la maison n'estpas ouverte aux visiteurs -une partie de l'intérieurdont disposent les occupants actuels.La partie privée de la maison a également été réamé-nagée. Compte tenu de ce qu'aucun foyer ne sauraitse passer du confort de l'électro-ménager, il a été prévuune cuisine moderne bieI:I équipée, de même que troisbonnes salles de bains. On a renouvelé l'ensemble desinstallations de service en veillant à ce qu'elles soientd'aspect aussi discret que possible, et on a installé unsystème de chauffage central. On a profité par ailleursde l'occasion pour rectifier certaines modifications anté-rieures plutôt mal inspirées. Par exemple, on avaitdécouvert un beau paravent du XVIle siècle, découpé etrapiécé, qui servait de cloison séparant en deux unechambre à coucher; il a été remis en état et rendu àsa fonction initiale dans le vestibule du rez-de-chaussée.De même, on a démoli un'W.C. qui fermait l'accès aupassage dit « des paravents », datant du XVle siècle. Lesouvertures vers l'extérieur ont, pour la plupart, retrouvéleurs fonctions d'origine, alors que des portes avaientété transformées en fenêtres et vice versa; on a crutoutefois devoir respecter certaines modifications con-sidérées comme ayant acquis une valeur spécifique en

tant que témoins de l'évolution du Manoir à traversle temps.Si le réordonnancement intérieur de la maison posaitdes problèmes relativement simples, les réparationsextérieures et les travaux de consolidation représen-taient une opération extrêmement compliquée. Lesmurs, fragiles et dt: construction médiocre, et victimesdu manque d'entretien et de l'altération naturelle dûau vieillissement, étaient à plusieurs endroits près des'effondrer. Les toitures laissaient passer la pluie,tandis que l'humi,dité ascendante avait pénétré lesplanchers et le ba!; des murs, provoquant des dégâtsimportants, tant dai Ils les parties structurelles que dansles couches de finition extérieures. Les planchers, demême que les charpentes des toits, étaient partoutenvahis de cloportes et de champignons d'humidité et,par ailleurs, les pi,~rres des pignons, des parapets etdes encadrements des fenêtres étaient sérieusementdétériorées.Le plus grave était peut-être le manque de stabilité decertaines parties de: la structure principale. Les mursextérieurs, en apparence solides, se sont révélés, lorsdes sondages, n'êtlre en réalité que des noyaux enargile de fond de rivière protégés à l'intérieur et àl'extérieur par un revêtement de moellons non join-toyés. Il s'agissait en fait d'une technique présentantà l'époque des avantages pour une construction enbordure de rivière, car elle permettait au bâtiment des'adapter librement à un terrain instable. Mais en l'oc-currence la solidité de l'ensemble, qui résultait plus desa masse que de la résistance de ses différents élémentsde structure, avait été sévèrement entamée du fait dela pénétration de l'humidité, venant s'ajouter à l'effetnéfaste des diverst:s modifications irréfléchies intro-duites postérieureme:nt. La façade septentrionale, notam-ment, avait été affaiblie par le percement de portes etde fenêtres supplémlentaires; c'est ainsi que l'ensemblede la charge exercée par toute la partie supérieure dumur, plus le pignon et le toit, était supportée pardeux minces piles ell pierre, qui avaient, bien entendu,commencé à céder sous l'effet de ce poids tellementconcentré et indu. i\ l'intérieur, une énorme cheminéecentrale, en pierre, reposait en porte-à-faux sur despoutres complètemt:nt pourries. De même, on s'estaperçu que, dans la chambre à coucher de Morris, unesimple planche, fléchie à un degré dangereux, suppor-tait au-dessus de la porte une lourde masse de maçon-nerie sur laquelle reposait, à son tour, une partie dela toiture.Pour permettre de supporter et de redistribuer cescharges, on a intrclduit, en les coulant tronçon partronçon, des poutre~; intérieures en béton. De la mêmefaçon, on s'est servi de béton pour remplacer, là oùil le fallait, les somnlliers en bois au-dessus des fenêtreset pour renforcer de l'intérieur ceux des pignons quimenaçaient ruine. IJes revêtements en pierre ont étéréparés avec de la pierre artificielle, là où cela étaitencore possible; ailleurs ils ont été tout simplementreconstruits en pierre naturelle. Lors du grattage des

jointoyages en ciment dur, on a découvert de nombreuxvides importants dans les murs; ceux-ci ont été bouchéspar injection avant le rejointoyage, pour lequel on aemployé du mortier de chaux.Pour la lutte contre l'humidité ascendante, une « zonesèche » a été créée le long de toute une partie desfaçades de la maison, tandis que le sol du rez-de-chaussée a été entièrement refait en dur, avec, en des-sous, un système ininterrompu de membranes imper-méables à l'humidité. Par ailleurs, on a remplacé lesgouttières, qui captaient mal les eaux, étant insuffi-samment adaptées aux formes irrégulières des avancéesdu toit en pierre; le nouveau modèle de gouttière, munide gargouilles, permet de rejeter les eaux loin des murs.La réparation de la toiture a exigé un travail très long,car il a fallu, en procédant par étapes, tout enlever ettout refaire entièrement; en effet, les pointes et clousd'ardoise, de même que les voliges, avaient cédé, etla charpente -en bois d'orme -était sérieusementdétériorée par l'humidité et minée par les perce-bois.C'est ainsi que neuf poutres sur dix ont dû être rem-placées; on a choisi, comme matériau de remplacement,le chêne semi-séché, et on s'est aperçu qu'il convenaità la perfection. Il a suffi, d'ailleurs, de blanchir à lachaux les surfaces des poutres nouvelles destinées àdemeurer apparentes, à l'intérieur ou à l'extérieur dela maison. Les fermes, en chêne, étaient dans l'en-semble en moins mauvais état; toutefois, l'une d'ellesétait pourrie, non seulement aux extrémités mais égale-ment en son milieu, et à tel point qu'elle faisait sup-porter l'énorme poids de la toiture -qui aurait dûreposer sur les murs extérieurs -à de simples cloi-sons intérieures, qui s'en trouvaient, bien entendu.affaissées et déformées. La poutre maîtresse a été rem-placée par une poutre en chêne; quant aux éléments dela charpente qui n'étaient pourries que par endroits,on s'est contenté, suivant les cas, de remplacer leursextrémités par un assemblage à mi-bois ou de lesrenforcer avec des plaques d'acier.

Une fois les charpentes réparées, on a posé une coucheisolante en feutre, mis en place de nouvelles voligesprétraitées et remis les dalles de pierre qui faisaientfonction d'ardoises, en les posant comme auparavantpar rangées dont la largeur diminuait vers le bas, eten les fixant ave.: des clous en acier inoxydable.Au premier étagf: il a fallu remplacer quelques poutreset solives dont les extrémités encastrées étaient pour-ries; mais dans la plupart des cas il a été possible defaire une réparation avec de simples bandes d'acier etdes tasseaux. Tous les éléments des charpentes ontreçu un traitement insecticide et fongicide et les par-ties nourries des planchers ont été remplacées par desplanches d'orme très sec, joliment veinuré; la fixations'est faite par vis, pour permettre au bois de travailler.Quant à l'escalier en colimaçon de l'extrémité sud dela maison, il a fallu le refaire entièrement, car il avaitété construit, a-1:-on constaté, sur les restes de deuxescaliers antérieuJrs, tous les deux abîmés et ne reposantque sur un amas de moellons hétéroclites.Ce qui caractéri~;e, en effet, le Manoir de Kelmscott,c'est le fait que partout, lorsqu'on en est arrivé auxsondages, on a découvert un état de dégradation plusavancée que ne l'avait laissé prévoir l'examen superfi-ciel. Ce même phénomène se rencontre, il est vrai, dansd'autres vieux bâtiments; mais il s'agit ici d'un casextrême. Les travaux ont été exécutés d'une manièreadmirable; ils avaient été confiés à une entrepriselocale qui, tout naturellement, était à même de com-prendre les problèmes inhérents aux constructions tra-ditionnelles du pays et aux caractéristiques des maté-riaux de constru(;tion locaux. La surveillance est allée,bien entendu, jusqu'à des questions de détail et il afallu un total de 75 visites de contrôle sur le chantier;les problèmes F'articuliers évoluaient et se transfor-maient de semaine en semaine et il fallait les aborderavec une souplesse exceptionnelle pour pouvoir espérerles résoudre d'une manière adéquate.

Fig. 9. -La" salle du jardin » avec (au fond, à droite)

l'embrasure de la fenêtre de la construction primitive, obstruéeà la suite des amé,,!agements ultérieurs. La cloison, initialementvitrée, avait été déplacée el recouverte de planches.

Fig. 10. -La sa/le des boiseries, dans l'aile dalant du XVlIcsiècle. Les motifs classiques des boiseries des murs et de lacheminée reflètent le caractère hautement raffiné de l'archi-teclure de cette partie de la maison. Lorsque Morris en devintlocataire, les boise..ies étaient peintes en blanc, et l'on penseque cette sa/le est à l'origine de la mode des murs blancs,répandue peu aprè:s sous l'influence de Morris et de PhilipWebb, qui était souvent l'hâle du Manoir. La toile au-dessus dela cheminée «< Le Jardin des Tulipes ») est de Pierre Breughelle Jeune.

Fig. 1. -Le Manoir de Kelmscott vu du nord-est, après lestravaux de rénovation.

Fig. 2. -La façade orientale du Manoir de Kelmscolt. Dessinde C. M. Gere, servant de frontispice à Nouvelles de Nulle Part(édité par la Kelmscott Press en 1892). Le motif adopté pourl'encadrement est de Morris lui-même. A droite, l'aile dubâtiment qui date du XV11e siècle.

Fig. 3. -William Morris à 53 ans.

Fig. 4. -Plan du rez-de-chaussée du Manoir, rénové.

Fig. 5 el 6. -La vieille cuisine, avant les travaux et après leurachèvement.

Fig. 7et 8. -La salle de bains de la partie orient';le du Manoir.Le papier peint, ici comme dans les autres pièces de la maison,est une réimpression moderne exécutée par la Sté. SandersonLtd. à partir des clichés authentiques utilisés par Morris.

Fig. 11. -Le Manoir de Kelmscott vu du nord-est, avant lestravaux.

Fig. 12. -Projection isométrique montrant l'état du Manoiren 1965.

Fig. 13. -Coupe d'un mur extérieur du Manoir, montrant lenoyau de pisé et de pierres tout venant, avec revêtementsintérieur et e.Ttérieur en pierres de petite dimension.

Fig. 14. -Façade nord du Manoir, avant les travaux; on lavoit ici défigurée par des modifications successives et partiellesqui avaient provoqué un début d'affaissement de la partiecentrale.

Fig. 15. -L'élévation nord dans son état actuel, après restau-ration dans son style primitif et construction du nouveau porcheet d'une entrée pour le public.Les pointillés indiquent l'emplacement de la poutre en bétonarmé introduite à l'intérieur pour permettre une redistributiondes charges.

Fig. 16. -La partie inférieure du corps de cheminée central,dans l'état où on l'a trouvée lors de son dégagement.

Fig. 17. -L'énorme masse de maçonnerie qui soutenait leplancher du grenier, la cheminée et la toiture; on s'est aperçuqu'elle s'appuyait sur une simple planche de chêne de 2,5 cmd'épaisseur. Celle-ci présentait un gauchissement très importantet était même sur le point de céder.

Fig. 19. -Le vaste grenier au-dessus du corps central dubâtiment du XVIe siècle, après les travaux de réparation.

Fig. 20. -Le toit ava,'t été réparé à de nombreux endroits avecde simples morceaux a'e feutre qui laissaient pénétrer la pluie àl'intérieur.

Fig. 21. -Une cloison très mince déformée par les chargeserceptionnelles du toit.

Fig. 22. -Mise en place des ardoises selon la méthodeprimitivement adoptée, par rangées dont la largeur diminueprogressivement vers le bas.

Fig. 23 et 24. -En haut, la grille de cheminée victorienne dela salle à manger. En bas, la cheminée de pierre découvertederrière celle-ci et actuellement dégagée.

Fig. 25. -La chambre à coucher de Morris avec son lit dudébut du XVl1e siècle. On peut lire sur les volants un poèmeécrit par Morris en 1891, le dessus de lit et J'ensemble desvolants ayant été brodé's par sa fi/le May. On a réussi à rendreaux couleurs tout leur éclat ainsi que leur fraîcheur d'origine.

Fig. 26. -Le plancher de la sa/le des tapisseries est de concep-tion géométrique. Ce système avait prétendument été introduitau XVl1e siècle par un professeur de géométrie de l'Universitéd'Oxford comme moye.'! d'obtenir des portées dont la longueurdépassait celle des planches employées.

Fig. 27. -L'escalier principal de la partie la plus ancienne duManoir.

Fig. 18. -On a trouvé la toiture en très mauvais état et une

forte proportion des chevrons a dû être remplacée.