Tradition is simply beautiful (From Stroud News and Journal)

Tradition is simply beautiful

Some of the most wonderful churches and houses in the Cotswolds are examples of the Arts & Crafts Movement, which advocated a return to simplicity and excellent craftsmanship.

Jenny Bailey, who is giving a series of talks in September as part of the Stroud 700 celebrations, explained to Katie Jarvis how the movement took hold in the Cotswolds, and what we can see of it today.

FIFTEEN years ago, Jenny Bailey was searching for a new kitchen for her Stroud home.

"I wanted one I could paint," she says, "and I found a workshop in the Bath Road in Stroud, which had what I was looking for."

While she was there, she got talking to one of the craftsmen - an old gentleman who kept talking about working for a man named Walls.

"I suddenly cottoned on that this was his way of pronouncing the name Waals," she says. In fact, he was referring to Peter van der Waals, one of the pioneers of the Cotswold Arts & Crafts Movement, who died in 1937.

For Jenny, that conversation was the start of an interest that has led her to become something of an expert herself on a movement that re-established the Cotswolds as a leader in the field of craftsmanship.

'Arts and Crafts' began in Britain in the 19th century as a rebellion against artifice. Those who supported it advocated a return to simple truths - natural materials, good honest construction, usefulness and using nature as inspiration.

In 1893, the architects Ernest Gimson and brothers Sidney and Ernest Barnsley moved to the Cotswolds with the intention of leading a simple life. They had been inspired by William Morris and his ideals of skilled craftsmanship, and with that in mind, they set up furniture workshops in Sapperton.

"It was a time of agricultural depression," Jenny explains. "There were lots of derelict buildings, and men on low wages or out of work. Some of those men were craftsmen who'd been employed to make farm wagons, or blacksmiths who'd done related work. Gimson and the Barnsleys took them on and trained them to very high standards."

Peter Waals, a cabinet maker from Holland, joined them as their foreman, and they began making furniture of the highest quality.

Their work was unadorned and hand-made, usually from English oak and walnut, and featured exposed joints to show the 'honest construction' of the pieces.

"Gimson and the Barnsleys also led very simple lives," Jenny says.

"They baked their own bread and brewed their own cider. The movement was not just about craftsmanship - it was a way of living your life."

When Gimson died in 1919, Waals moved to Chestnut House in Chalford and established his own workshop at Halliday's Mill, taking many of his workmen with him.

Among Jenny's favourite local examples of work by these craftsmen, and the architects they inspired, are St Barnabas, Box, the Little Chapel at Rodborough Tabernacle, and Rodmarton Manor.

The manor, which is open to the public, was designed for the Biddulph family by Ernest Barnsley, and built between 1909 and 1929, with everything custom-made by hand, using local stone, timber and craftsmen.

Descendants of these craftsmen are still living locally, and many own Arts and Crafts pieces as family heirlooms. And the tradition carries on today - among woodworkers such as Dennis French, known for his fine mirrors and woodturning; and students of the Gloscat furniture course which still teaches the Cotswold style.

In 1995, Jenny set up Stroud Valleys Craftsmen to promote work locally in the Arts and Crafts tradition, with a unique section of conservation crafts. Two years later, the group staged a commemorative exhibition of the work of Peter Waals.

There is a growing interest in the Arts and Crafts Movement but Jenny is hoping for further recognition still. "A lot of Arts and Crafts houses have no protection whatsoever," she says. "What is needed is a lot more education about the significance of the movement."

Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum holds an Arts and Crafts collection of national importance and plans a centenary exhibition next year; the Victoria & Albert Museum is also preparing a major exhibition on the international Arts and Crafts Movement, opening in July 2005.

And in Stroud next year, although Stroud Valleys Craftsmen have disbanded, Jenny hopes to mount a second exhibition of furniture by Peter Waals, together with contemporary work by local craftsmen.

Jenny Bailey will be giving a series of talks, illustrated by slides, on the Cotswold Arts and Crafts Movement as part of the Stroud 700 celebrations:

Arts & Crafts churches on Wednesday September 1, repeated September 29; Arts & Crafts architecture on October 6 and Arts & Crafts furniture on October 13.

The talks will be held at Stroud Congregational Church Hall, Bedford Street, Stroud, at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £2 from Centre Bookshop, London Road, Stroud (01453 764713).

There will also be a church trail from September 10-13, in and around Stroud, of 13 churches with Arts & Crafts features.

Free guides are available from Stroud Tourist Information on 01453 760900.