Thread by @heritage_lizzie

This is Blackwell near Bowness, probably the most beautiful house in the world. Designed by MacKay Hugh Baillie Scott it’s a Grade I listed building & one of the UK’s finest examples of Arts & Crafts architecture @lakelandarts - come & see inside…(thread)

First up, how beautiful is this leaflet/map of the rooms?

The ‘great hall’ is open & unlike Victorian houses of the time. It was the holiday home of brewing family the Holts. Sir Edward was Lord Mayor of Manchester for two consecutive years from 1907 – 1909. As a holiday home it could perhaps be more experimental than an everyday home.

The exquisite carving has so many details. The wallpaper would have cost around £3 for this small handmade peacock strip (3x a week’s wages for an ordinary person at the time). The berries were the mulberry - from the family’s crest. It is found throughout the house.

Here’s the crest & a couple more examples

There’s also a treehouse/‘minstrel’s gallery’ with a fireplace & scrumptious reading book below.

The carved details are on both sides, including from the inside of the nooks. Each ceiling boss is different. The family were musical & this arts & crafts piano stands beside the stairs.

Not sure I’ve noticed this before our guide today pointed it out. The arts & crafts movement also didn’t like waste & reused beautiful older materials where they could. The panelling was salvaged from a church & items such as fireplaces were reused.

On into the dining room - wonderful to see that the @ThePilgrimTrust funded the restoration of this important room. The hessian based wall covering would have likely been a dark blue, but what remains is the conserved original.

The family used their own furniture in the dining room, which wasn’t approved of by Baillie Scott but the @lakelandarts have been showcasing important arts & crafts pieces in this room (and elsewhere in the house).

The white drawing room - one of the most beautiful rooms I’ve ever seen. Views down to Windermere. According to our guide this room starts to show art nouveau influences as well as arts & crafts with its swirling foliage.

The detail on these stems 🤩

You can see the mulberries here & some daisies (also found in the dining room wallpaper). It is thought the daisies are a tribute to William Morris as they were used in his first design.

The books are all arts & craft designed bindings. Original stained glass windows throughout the house bring coloured light into the room, particularly next to fire places.

The @lakelandarts still focuses on commissioning & showcasing new art inspired by Blackwell. It is showcased through the house. We particularly like this ingenious chess set by student Hannah Peverley.

So much wonderful use of coloured light & glass. These sections are from the corridor areas downstairs & upstairs.

On upstairs… The yellow bedroom

More art peppered around inspired by Blackwell…

A feast of fireplaces…

Lots of views through into the main hall. From the ‘minstrel’s gallery’ & from the upstairs corridor.

The detail on some of this furniture 🥰

Upstairs @lakelandarts have included a number of orientation spaces covering the history of the house and the arts & crafts movement. Love these pictures of when the house was used as a school after the family no longer used it, until the 1960s.

The room about the arts & crafts movement has some great hands on activities too for young people.

Upstairs on a second floor there is also a fairly newly restored bedroom with arts & crafts bed.

One for @Conservators_UK - the restored Liberty Chair

Something I particularly like about visits to Blackwell are the changing exhibitions in the upper rooms. Currently there’s a climate-change themed exhibition by James Fox lakelandarts.org.uk/blackwell/what…

There is also a modern imagining of an arts & crafts freeze, created recently.

We also really enjoyed a family workshop (currently on each Tuesday) by CliMART - stitching as part of an environmental awareness raising campaign around climate change working with lots of young people around schools & galleries. Heritage is part of the solution 🌎

Thank you @lakelandarts Blackwell team for a thoroughly engaging return visit. Great volunteer-led tour, really enjoyable family workshop & interesting exhibition. I’ll leave everyone with a selection of Blackwell’s stunning windows.