Charles Voysey (architect)
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Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (28 May 1857 – 12 February 1941) was an English architect and furniture and
textile design Textile design, also known as textile geometry, is the creative and technical process by which thread or yarn fibers are interlaced to form a piece of Textile, cloth or Textile, fabric, which is subsequently printed upon or otherwise adorned. Texti ...
er. Voysey's early work was as a designer of
wallpaper Wallpaper is used in interior decoration to cover the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" to help cover uneve ...
s,
fabrics Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not ...
and furnishings in a
Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...
style and he made important contribution to the
Modern Style (British Art Nouveau style) The Modern Style is a style of architecture, art, and design that first emerged in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom in the mid-1880s. It was the first Art Nouveau style worldwide, and it represents the evolution of ...
, and was recognized by the seminal '' The Studio'' magazine. He is renowned as the architect of several
country houses 300px, Oxfordshire.html" ;"title="Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire">Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a To ...
. He was one of the first people to understand and appreciate the significance of
industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...
. He has been considered one of the pioneers of
Modern Architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...
, a notion which he rejected. His English domestic architecture draws heavily on vernacular rather than academic tradition, influenced by the ideas of
Herbert Tudor Buckland Herbert Tudor Buckland (20 November 1869 – 1951) was a British architect, best known for his seminal Arts and Crafts houses (several of which, including his own at Edgbaston, Birmingham, are Grade I listed), the Elan Valley model village, ...
(1869–1951) and
Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...
(1812–1852). A part of the Sanderson wallpaper factory (1901) in
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
, which he designed, is named Voysey House in his memory.


Education

Born at Kingston College, at
Hessle Hessle () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, west of Kingston upon Hull. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area consisting of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of H ...
, Yorkshire on 28 May 1857, he was the eldest son of Rev. Charles Voysey, a Church of England priest who was deprived of his living in 1871 for his heterodox views. The family moved to London where his father founded the Theistic Church. Voysey was educated by his father, then briefly at
Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...
. In 1874 Voysey was articled for five years to the architect J. P. Seddon, with whom he subsequently remained a further year as chief assistant. From Seddon Voysey learnt the 'Gothic' principles of design first propounded by A. W. N. Pugin: elevations should grow naturally out of the requirements of the plan and only 'honest' construction should be used. Seddon and Voysey both believed in following these principles of design without slavishly copying Gothic styles. But, however freely Seddon interpreted the Gothic styles, his work remained discernibly Gothic, whereas Voysey's mature work eliminated all trace of period styles. Voysey followed Seddon in believing, like Pugin, that it was the business of an architect to make designs not only for buildings but also for the allied crafts. In 1879 Voysey spent a brief period as assistant to the architect
Henry Saxon Snell Henry Saxon Snell (4 April 1831 – 10 January 1904) was a noted architect who specialised in health facilities and designed many London hospitals and other public buildings. He was the author of two significant architectural books: ''Hospital C ...
(1830–1904), and from 1880 to 1881 he worked as an assistant in the office of
George Devey George Devey (1820, London – 1886, Hastings, Sussex) was an English architect notable for his work on country houses and their estates, especially those belonging to the Rothschild family. The second son of Frederick and Ann Devey, he was bo ...
, who was a follower of his father's Theistic Church. There he gained valuable site experience, and would have encountered Devey's skill as a watercolourist and his considerable knowledge of English vernacular architecture. In 1881 or early 1882 Voysey set up his own practice in London.


Design

Voysey's designs in the field of applied art included furniture, wallpapers, fabrics, carpets, tiles, metalwork, ceramics and graphic design. Sometimes he designed artefacts specially for his own buildings, and sometimes he sold designs to manufacturers for wider use. Voysey's development as a furniture designer corresponded to his development as an architect, and by c.1895 he had evolved a definitive personal style. His furniture conformed, with a few exceptions, to this style until 1910, when he began to introduce greater elaboration, including Gothic motifs, into his designs. The simple elegance of Voysey's furniture from the period 1895–1910 was achieved by relying on the innate beauty of high quality materials, especially unpolished oak, and by eschewing complicated decoration in favour of a careful balance of the vertical and horizontal elements in a design. The vertical elements were often emphasised by tapering the vertical supports from a square to an octagonal section and by carrying corner supports up above the functionally necessary height; the horizontal elements were often emphasised by simply moulded cornices, by circular caps on the tops of corner supports (a motif borrowed from
Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (12 December 1851 – 15 March 1942) was a progressive England, English architect and designer, who influenced the Arts and Crafts Movement, notably through the Century Guild, Century Guild of Artists, which he set ...
) and by long strap-hinges made of unpolished bronze. Voysey was a distinguished designer of flat patterns for wallpapers, fabrics, carpets and tiles. It was Mackmurdo who first introduced him to the techniques of wallpaper design, and some of Voysey's early pattern designs incorporated more restrained versions of the swirling motifs beloved by Mackmurdo and the Century guild of artists. Voysey sold his first wallpaper design in 1883; by the late 1880s his reputation as a wallpaper designer was established at home and abroad, and he was still selling pattern designs in 1930. His career as a pattern designer was thus longer and more prolific than his career as an architect. But it was also complementary to his architectural career, because selling patterns supplemented his income in the lean years of his architectural practice, before c. 1895 and after c. 1910. Many of Voysey's pattern designs rely for their effect on rhythmically contrasted shapes consisting of areas of flat, clear colour, usually bounded by dark or pale outlines. This is in the tradition of oriental design praised by Victorian reformers of design, such as
Owen Jones Owen Jones (born 8 August 1984) is a left-wing British newspaper columnist, commentator, journalist, author and political activist. He writes a column for ''The Guardian'' and contributes to the ''New Statesman'', ''Tribune (magazine), Tribune ...
and
Matthew Digby Wyatt Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt (28 July 1820 – 21 May 1877) was a British architect and art historian who became Secretary of the Great Exhibition, Surveyor of the East India Company and the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Camb ...
. In Voysey's work stylised natural forms, especially plants and birds, often represent the positive shapes, and areas of background form the contrasting negative shapes. This skilful juxtaposition can also be seen in his handling of the solids and voids in his designs for two-dimensional metalwork, such as ventilator grilles and hinges. Some of Voysey's pattern designs after c. 1900 consist of motifs placed in comparative isolation against a light ground. The use of scale is arbitrary, giving an effect of naive charm reminiscent of medieval illuminations and tapestries. The later designs are generally smaller and more delicately coloured than the designs of the 1880s and 1890s. At the suggestion of his friend A. H. Mackmurdo, Voysey began designing wallpapers in 1883 under contract for Jeffrey & CoJackson 2007, p. 13 while waiting for architectural commissions to come in.Parry 2005, pp. 150–151. He joined the Art-Workers' Guild in 1884, and displayed both printed textiles and wallpapers at the inaugural
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of me ...
show at the New Gallery in 1888. In 1893 he began designing wallpapers for Essex & Co., for whom he executed several hundred patterns. Distinct stages can be identified in Voysey's wallpaper and textile designs. His earliest works, through the late 1880s, have historically influenced traditional repeats. By the mid-1890s, he was creating his most characteristic and original designs, flowing patterns in pastel colourways with flattened silhouettes of birds, florals, and hearts. Designs were used for both wallpaper and textiles, which were often executed as wool
double cloth Double cloth or double weave (also doublecloth, double-cloth, doubleweave) is a kind of woven textile in which two or more sets of warps and one or more sets of weft or filling yarns are interconnected to form a two-layered cloth.Kadolph, Sara J. ...
s for furnishing. Typical patterns of this period includ
''The Saladin''
wallpaper, 1897 an
''The Owl''
jacquard-woven woollen textile, 1898. From 1910 onwards, his patterns became more narrative, with isolated motifs, and were often meant for the nursery. Th
''Alice in Wonderland''
furnishing fabric, c.1920, is typical of this phase. His last recorded wallpaper commission was dated 1930. In 1896, '' The Studio'' confirmed Voysey's place in the decorative arts, writing "Now a 'Voysey wall-paper' sounds almost as familiar as a '
Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia * St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Man ...
chintz' or a '
Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...
silk'." Voysey also designed for
Donegal Carpets Donegal Carpets is a trademark brand of handmade wool carpets produced in Killybegs, a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Donegal Carpets can be found in Dublin Castle, the Royal Pavilion of Brighton, Eltham Palace, and the U.S. White House as w ...
and many other firms over a fifty-year career in design.


Architectural work

Voysey's first design was for a house at
Loughton Loughton () is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. The town borders Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell, Chingford, and Buckhurst Hill, and lies north-east of Charing Cross. For statistical purposes ...
for Octavius Dixie Deacon. A house was erected on the site, but whether it bore any relation to Voysey's design is not known. By 1894, Voysey had moved his practice to Melina Place,
St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the Civil Parish#An ...
, London, next door to the influential Arts and Crafts architect
Edward Schroeder Prior Edward Schroeder Prior (1852–1932) was a British architect, instrumental in establishing the Arts and Crafts movement. He was one of the foremost theorists of the second generation of the movement, writing extensively on architecture, art, c ...
, resulting in the development of a long term friendship and exchange of ideas between the two men. Voysey's architectural practice began slowly, with small alterations and surveys; a number of unexecuted designs from these early years were published and reveal the influence of both Seddon and Devey. In 1888, he obtained his first architectural commission, for The Cottage (addition by Voysey, 1900) at
Bishop's Itchington Bishop's Itchington is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. It is about south-southwest of Southam and about southeast of Royal Leamington Spa. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's populati ...
, Warwicks. The Cottage was built of thin, buttressed brickwork, roughcast and painted cream. That form of construction was chosen by Voysey because it was cheap, but in his hands it became an aesthetic end in itself, as he skilfully juxtaposed the solid and void, light and shadow, of the clean-cut forms. Other 19th century architects, including Devey, had built country cottages in a simple vernacular style with whitened roughcast for estate workers, parsons and schoolmasters. For 1888, The Cottage was unusual not only for being entirely roughcast, but also for its simplicity and informality, which were revolutionary in a gentleman's house. Walnut Tree Farm (1890) at Castlemorton, near Malvern, Worcestershire, and a house at Bedford Park (1891),
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
, west London, have certain novel features that became characteristic of Voysey's designs. Walnut Tree Farm shows for the first time the lively colouring that was to become typical of his houses: whitened roughcast, bright green exterior woodwork, oversize, bright green water-butts, bright green tubs of bay trees and bright red curtains at the windows. At Bedford Park the innovation consisted of very simplified classical or Queen Anne details, a slate roof, and practical metal frames and stone surrounds of the windows. In 1893, Voysey obtained his first commission for a relatively expensive house, Perrycroft, at
Colwall Colwall is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Herefordshire, England, situated on the border with Worcestershire, nestling on the western side of the Malvern Hills at the heart of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, AONB. Areas of ...
, near Malvern. From then until 1910, Voysey received a steady stream of architectural commissions; most were simple, white country or suburban houses with low, spreading lines, for which he became famous. He introduced some mannered, even eccentric, classical detailing into two fairly expensive houses in Surrey, designed in 1897: New Place, near
Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south-west Surrey, England, around south-west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill (Hindhead, Surrey), Beacon Hill, they comprise ...
, and Norney Grange, near
Shackleford Shackleford is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Guildford, Surrey, England centred to the west of the A3 between Guildford and Petersfield southwest of London and southwest of Guildford. Shackleford includes the localities of ...
. But there was a return to simplicity at Broad Leys and Moorcrag, the lakeside houses near
Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...
that he designed in 1898. Between 1900 and 1910, Voysey obtained a series of commissions that gave him the opportunity to design complete houses, including every detail of the interiors, not only fixtures, but also movable furniture, carpets, curtains and wall coverings. The Orchard,
Chorleywood Chorleywood is a village and civil parish in the Three Rivers District, Hertfordshire, on the border with Buckinghamshire, approximately northwest of Charing Cross. The village is adjacent to the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Be ...
, Hertfordshire, designed for himself and his wife in 1899, was the first such house. In 1901 came The Pastures at
North Luffenham North Luffenham is a village in Rutland, in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 704, decreasing to 679 at the 2011 census. It lies to the north of the River Chater, east of Uppingham and west ...
, Rutland; in 1905 Holly Mount, near
Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...
, Bucks, and The Homestead at
Frinton-on-Sea Frinton-on-Sea is a seaside town and (as just Frinton) a former civil parish, now in the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district of Essex, England. In 2018 it had an estimated population of 4,837. History The place-name 'Fri ...
, Essex. He also designed Ty Bronna in
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
. An interior design carried out in London was Garden Corner (1906) on the
Chelsea Embankment Chelsea Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. The western end of Chelsea Embankment, including a stretch of Cheyne Walk, is in the Royal Borough of ...
. In the typical Voysey interior, the low ceilings and deep friezes were white, and the woodwork was unpolished oak, if possible, or cheaper
deal In cryptography, DEAL (Data Encryption Algorithm with Larger blocks) is a symmetric block cipher derived from the Data Encryption Standard (DES). Its design was presented by Lars Knudsen at the SAC conference in 1997, and submitted as a proposa ...
, painted white. Colours in furnishings, tiled fireplaces and wall and floor coverings were soft and light, for example delicate greens and heathery purples, with a few bright accents of red and turquoise. There was no clutter in a Voysey interior: furniture was sparse and the use of pattern in wallpapers, carpets and metalwork was sparing. From c. 1910, Voysey's architectural practice declined, largely because he was out of sympathy with the new fashion for classical forms. He reacted against that by introducing details of Gothic origin into his work. In 1909, he used a pointed arch in the porch of Brooke End at
Henley-in-Arden Henley-in-Arden (also known as simply Henley) is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England. The town takes its last name from the former Forest of Arden. Henley is known for its variety of historic ...
, Warwickshire, and in the same year he built a miniature courtyard house in Tudor Gothic style at Combe Down, near Bath. Unexecuted designs of 1914 for larger houses have eccentric courtyard plans, pointed arches, crenellations and towers. Voysey only occasionally obtained commissions for buildings other than country or suburban houses, but when he did he displayed considerable versatility. On the restricted site of his Bedford Park house, he abandoned his usual horizontal planning and built a "tower house". The two brick-faced terrace houses (1891) that he built in Hans Road,
Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...
, London, display great ingenuity in the arrangement of plan and section. The Sanderson wallpaper factory (1902) in
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
is severely functional in form and faced with white-glazed bricks. However, for the fitting out of the offices of the Essex and Suffolk Equitable Insurance Company (designed 1906–9), Capel House, New Broad Street, London, he considered a degree of expensive decoration to be appropriate. Voysey designed every detail of his houses, including the furniture. His houses were inspired by English vernacular sources of the 16th and early 17th centuries, featuring white roughcast walls with horizontal ribbon windows and huge pitched roofs, and used rough
plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...
,
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
and other materials typical of English farmhouses.Chambers 1985, pp. 255, 270Curl 2000. Examples of his completed architectural works are: Perrycroft,
Colwall Colwall is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Herefordshire, England, situated on the border with Worcestershire, nestling on the western side of the Malvern Hills at the heart of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, AONB. Areas of ...
, Herefordshire 1893; Annesley Lodge,
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...
, London, 1896; An artist's cottage (14 South Parade),
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
, London C.1890; Merlshanger (later Greyfriars),
Hog's Back The Hog's Back is a hilly ridge, part of the North Downs in Surrey, England. It runs between Farnham, Surrey, Farnham in the west and Guildford in the east. Toponym Compared with the main part of the Downs to the east of it, it is a narrow el ...
, Puttenham near Guildford, 1896; Norney Grange,
Shackleford Shackleford is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Guildford, Surrey, England centred to the west of the A3 between Guildford and Petersfield southwest of London and southwest of Guildford. Shackleford includes the localities of ...
, 1897; Spade House,
Sandgate, Kent Sandgate is a village in the Folkestone and Hythe Urban Area in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. It had a population of 4,225 at the 2001 census.H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...
); Voysey House (a Sanderson wallpaper factory, now offices),
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
1902; The Pastures,
North Luffenham North Luffenham is a village in Rutland, in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 704, decreasing to 679 at the 2011 census. It lies to the north of the River Chater, east of Uppingham and west ...
, Rutland 1903; The Orchard,
Chorleywood Chorleywood is a village and civil parish in the Three Rivers District, Hertfordshire, on the border with Buckinghamshire, approximately northwest of Charing Cross. The village is adjacent to the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Be ...
, 1900, which he designed for himself; Voysey Garden,
Emslie Horniman's Pleasance Emslie Horniman's Pleasance is a park in Kensal Town, in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. It is named after Emslie John Horniman the MP for Chelsea (of which Kensal Town was then an exclave) who created it. It opened in 1914. The ...
,
North Kensington North Kensington is an area of west and northwest London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green predominately in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and partly in the London Borough of Brent and City of Westminster. The ...
, 1914 is a public garden designed by Voysey. Voysey designed the
Malvern Wells War Memorial The Malvern Wells War Memorial is located on Wells Road in the village of Malvern Wells near Great Malvern in Worcestershire. The memorial marks the deaths of local individuals who died fighting in World War I and World War II. It was dedicated ...
in
Malvern Wells Malvern Wells is a village and civil parish south of Great Malvern in the Malvern Hills district of Worcestershire, England. The parish, once known as South Malvern, was formed in 1894 from parts of the civil parishes of Hanley Castle, Welland ...
, Worcestershire. It was unveiled in 1920 and is topped by a sculpture of a pelican.War Memorial: Malvern Wells (WMR-32991)
War Memorial: Malvern Wells (WMR-8111)
accessdate: 2 January 2018
There are several examples of Voysey's design near
Bowness-on-Windermere Bowness-on-Windermere is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Windermere and Bowness, in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It lies next to Lake Windermere and the town of Wind ...
, Cumbria, with roughcast walls and massive rendered stacks on sweeping slate roofs. Architectural historian
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...
greatly admired the Orchard, and identified Broad Leys as Voysey's masterpiece, seeing in them seeds of the modernist movement. In fact, Voysey himself, who was Master of the Art-Workers Guild in 1924, had a strong dislike of modern architecture, and was irritated by Pevsner's identification of his work with the movement.
Broad Leys Broad Leys is a house located in Ghyll Head, near Bowness-on-Windermere, Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. It is in the northern part of the parish of Cartmel Fell. It was constructed in 1898 by Charles Voysey for Arthur Currer Brigg ...
(1898–1900) is now the headquarters of the Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club, and featured in the film ''
The French Lieutenant's Woman ''The French Lieutenant's Woman'' is a 1969 Postmodern literature, postmodern historical fiction novel by John Fowles. The plot explores the fraught relationship of gentleman and amateur naturalist Charles Smithson and Sarah Woodruff, the for ...
''. It is the only Voysey house in which the public are allowed to stay. Voysey died in
Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...
in 1941.


Legacy

Voysey was influenced by the work of
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...
, the Arts and Crafts Movement and
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
, and was concerned with form and function rather than ornamental complexities. He felt that "simplicity in decoration is one of the essential qualities without which no true richness is possible" and often worked in a limited colour palette, "emphasizing outline, eliminating shading, and minimizing detail." He joined as a member of the
Art Workers' Guild The Art Workers' Guild is an organisation established in 1884 by a group of British painters, sculptors, architects, and designers associated with the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The guild promoted the 'unity of al ...
in 1884, "the conscientious core of the Arts and Crafts Movement", being elected to the position of Master in 1924. His furniture designs were simple and functional, and only sparingly decorated. He particularly advocated that wood should be left with its natural finish, contrary to the popular techniques which covered wood with paint and stain. He eschewed the complexities identified with late
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...
design. Many modest houses built in Britain in the 1920s and 1930s were inspired by Voysey's simple vernacular country houses, although Voysey himself built no houses after 1918. The
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
has an extensive collection of Voysey's work, including design drawings, fabrics, carpets, and wallpapers. Architects influenced by Voysey include
Jan Kotera Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...
, a leading Czech architect.Cultural Movement
, Foibos.cz, retrieved 4 November 2013
2011 saw the formation of the C. F .A. Voysey Society, dedicated to his life and work.


See also

*
Herbert Tudor Buckland Herbert Tudor Buckland (20 November 1869 – 1951) was a British architect, best known for his seminal Arts and Crafts houses (several of which, including his own at Edgbaston, Birmingham, are Grade I listed), the Elan Valley model village, ...
*
Charles Cowles-Voysey Charles Cowles-Voysey (24 June 1889 – 10 April 1981) was an English architect. Career Charles Voysey studied at the Architectural Association School and the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture. Between 1909 and 1912 he was articled to Horac ...


References and sources

;References ;Sources * *
C.F.A. Voysey biography at GreatBuildings.com
citing Dennis Sharp, ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Architects and Architecture.'' New York: Quatro Publishing, 1991. . NA40.I45. p. 160. * * *


Further reading

* * * * * * * * *


External links


The CFA Voysey Society

Photos, drawings, pattern design, furniture and literature.

Charles Francis Annesley VOYSEY
at www.links.org
Winsford Trust
, custodians of the only hospital built by Voysey; at
Halwill Halwill is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district, in Devon, England just off the A3079 Okehampton to Holsworthy road. About a mile away on the main road is another settlement called Halwill Junction. In 2011 the parish had a popu ...
in Devon {{DEFAULTSORT:Voysey, C Architects from Yorkshire English furniture designers People from Hessle People of the Victorian era 1857 births 1941 deaths People educated at Dulwich College Arts and Crafts movement artists British textile designers Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal 19th-century English people Arts and Crafts architects People from Chorleywood Masters of the Art Worker's Guild Royal Designers for Industry Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects