Impeccable Manors - Arts & Crafts Splendour at Wightwick

Friday's destination was another National Trust property, the gorgeous Wightwick Manor (pronounced Witt-ick) which is just outside Wolverhampton city centre and an 11 mile drive from home. 

Wightwick Manor was a survivor of the fickle nature of fashion. Its Aesthetic Movement (Arts & Crafts) interiors, heavy with the designs by William Morris and his associates, had almost been lost in the 1920s but found new life in the 1930s and 40s. With its barley twist brick chimneys and oak framed white-washed walls, the design of house looked to be something from five centuries earlier, rather than just five decades old. 

Wightwick Manor was gifted by then owner, Geoffrey Mander, to the National Trust in 1937, the first house given under the country house scheme which had been introduced a few months earlier. Sir Geoffrey continued to live in the house with his wife, Lady Mander, opening the building to the public on Thursday afternoons. As the property got more popular the National Trust provided helpers to welcome guests and offer guided tours.

When the wealthy industrialist, Theodore Mander, commissioned the building of a new manor on Wightwick Bank in the Old English style in 1887 he started the Mander family's love for Victorian art & design which would unfold over a century of collecting and preservation. However, his untimely death in 1900 left the care and development of the new home to his eldest son, Geoffrey (1882 - 1962). Educated at Harrow & Cambridge, Sir Geoffrey Le Mesurier Mander, served in the Royal Flying Corps in WWI and was a practicing lawyer. He entered the Houses of Parliament as a Liberal MP for Wolverhampton West in 1929. He was chairman for the family firm, Mander Brothers, for a generation, a major manufacturer of paints, inks and varnishes in the British Empire.

Sir Geoffrey Mander remarried in 1930. His new wife Rosalie Glynn Grylls gave up her ambitions to be a Liberal MP and focused her attention on English literature and art. Starting with a biography of Mary Shelley, her surroundings at Wightwick soon inspired her to research the Pre-Raphaelites, especially Rossetti.

The detail is astonishing, I've lost count of the number of times I've visited Wightwick - and even posed by the front door - yet yesterday was the first time I'd spotted this bat! My friend Lynn tells me that the bat & owl over the front door are guardians of the night to keep the household safe.

For those with a penchant for grey walls and clutter-free surfaces, look away now. To me, who grew up in an Arts & Crafts house, Wightwick feels like home. Given the choice between simplicity and splendour, the latter knocks the former into a cocked hat.

Wightwick had no Pre-Raphaelite art prior to 1937. Once the house put into the care of the National Trust, Sir Geoffrey and Lady Mander started to buy art to put on display for their visitors. The first was a portrait of Jane Morris by Rossetti.Over time a unique collection developed, with some major pieces supplied by the National Trust, and small works and sketches either purchased or donated. The collection has over 70 works by D.G Rossetti; 50 by Edward Burne-Jones; 23 by Evelyn De Morgan and 20 by Millais. 

When Wightwick was built, the house was fitted with electric lighting, cutting edge for 1887. The house was also built with central heating with many of the original radiators still working.

Unlike the artwork, Morris & Co designs were included in the 1887 and 1893 buildings. However, they were much enhanced after the 1937 saving of the property, when Sir Geoffrey expanded the Manor's Morris collection. This included sketches for Morris designs, as well as large items of furnishings, such as carpets and curtains.

Surprisingly William Morris never came to the house, nor did his company formally design for it. Instead, all the wallpapers, fabric wall coverings and soft furnishings were bought through the Morris & Co shop or catalogue.

Currently, in line with the Winter schedule, only the downstairs part of the house is open but there's that much to see it hardly matters. I seem to spot something different every time we visit. 

The purpose-built Malthouse gallery, which pre-dates the house (thanks again, Lynn!) , run in partnership with the De Morgan Foundation, displays drawings and paintings by the pioneering female artist, Evelyn De Morgan (1855-1919), and the creations of her husband, the pre-eminent ceramic designer, William De Morgan (1839-1917).

 

One of the volunteers told us that the attic space has been transformed into a bespoke display space for William De Morgan's tiles, 400 of which have been packed away for decades. From Friday 14th January, these tiles can finally be seen by the public. As a lover of both De Morgan and antique tiles, I'm already excited about our next visit. (More information HERE).

I've incorporated the Arts & Crafts aesthetic into my outfit - my maxi dress, vintage Afghan jacket (a recent find), Moroccan kilim bag, Tuscan sheepskin hat and Peruvian wrist warmers were all made by hand and, whilst they're not particularly beautiful, my recently chazza-shopped Clarks Gortex-lined leather walking boots are what William Morris would consider useful - they kept my feet dry and warm as we trudged through Wightwick's muddy gardens.

Wightwick Manor,

Wightwick Bank

 Wolverhampton

West Midlands

WV6 8EE 

Gardens open daily from 10am - 4pm  (House from 11am) 

Thanks for reading, see you soon!