Wightwick Manor Interior
Wightwick Manor (pronounced 'Wittick') is a Victorian era house built to resemble an Elizabethan style manor house but equipped with all of the mod cons of the late 19th century, including electricity (DC powered by an on-site generator), indoor plumbing, central heating and even a venting/cooling system.
Taking inspiration from a lecture on 'the House Beautiful' by Oscar Wilde, the first owner's son, Theodore, and his wife Flora decorated its interiors with the designs of William Morris and his Arts and Crafts contemporaries. The house portrays life during the Victorian era with original Morris wallpapers and fabrics, De Morgan tiles, Kempe glass, and many Pre-Raphaelite works of art. It is one of only a few surviving examples of a house built and furnished under the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement.
The house was first offered to the National Trust in 1936, but it was turned down because the house was only 50 years old! The following year the owners sweetened the pot by offering an endowment to maintain the house and the NT accepted. The offer included a proviso that the family could continue to occupy part of the house (which they did until 1986) while the rest was open to the public.
Wightwick Manor Interior
Wightwick Manor (pronounced 'Wittick') is a Victorian era house built to resemble an Elizabethan style manor house but equipped with all of the mod cons of the late 19th century, including electricity (DC powered by an on-site generator), indoor plumbing, central heating and even a venting/cooling system.
Taking inspiration from a lecture on 'the House Beautiful' by Oscar Wilde, the first owner's son, Theodore, and his wife Flora decorated its interiors with the designs of William Morris and his Arts and Crafts contemporaries. The house portrays life during the Victorian era with original Morris wallpapers and fabrics, De Morgan tiles, Kempe glass, and many Pre-Raphaelite works of art. It is one of only a few surviving examples of a house built and furnished under the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement.
The house was first offered to the National Trust in 1936, but it was turned down because the house was only 50 years old! The following year the owners sweetened the pot by offering an endowment to maintain the house and the NT accepted. The offer included a proviso that the family could continue to occupy part of the house (which they did until 1986) while the rest was open to the public.