William Morris's own home in Bexleyheath, the house where the Arts and Crafts idea took shape
Open to visitorsa National Trust place — check opening times and admission before you go
This is the only house William Morris ever built for himself, and you can feel him working things out in it. He was newly married and in his twenties when his friend Philip Webb drew it up in 1859, finished the next year, all warm red brick, steep roofs and pointed windows with nothing tacked on for show. Morris and his circle then set about the inside by hand, painting furniture, stitching hangings and filling windows with glass, which is roughly where the whole Arts and Crafts movement got going.
He only lived here until 1865 before the commute into London and the money both defeated him, and the house passed through other hands before the National Trust took it on. It opened to the public in 2003. Rooms are shown on set hours with an admission charge, and there is a modest garden that Morris planned as part of the house rather than an afterthought, with the old orchard and rose trellises kept in the spirit he laid down.
It sits in the suburbs of south-east London, so this is one to fold into a walking day rather than a wilderness trip. The London LOOP and the Green Chain Walk both pass within a couple of miles, and either one will take you out to the woods and heath of Oxleas Woodlands or the old ruins at Lesnes Abbey if you want green to go with your history.
