• Visit
  • What's on
  • The story
  • About us
  • Support
  • Shop
  • Donate
  • Book tour
  • Visit
  • What's on
  • The story
  • About us
  • Support
  • Shop

House opening hours: Thurs - Sat (timed ticket entry) Shop opening hours: Weds - Sat (10.00 am - 5.00 pm)

Book tour
Talk

The Arts and Crafts movement in Manchester: An Untold Story with Barry Clark

Day & time
Wed 28th May, 6.30pm - 8.30pm
Cost
£10 (£12 with donation)
Venue
Studio Space at David Parr House
Attend this event

Join Barry Clark as he explores Manchester’s rich contribution to the Arts and Crafts movement.

William Morris was a frequent visitor to Manchester, and the only Morris & Co. shop outside London was located there. His now-famous dictum—Do not have anything in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful—was first heard in Manchester. The first of his explicitly socialist lectures, Art, Wealth and Riches, was delivered at the Manchester Royal Institution, now the City Art Gallery—but it was not well received! John Ruskin was also a frequent lecturer in the city, and Morris’s fellow art worker, Walter Crane, was Head of Design at the Manchester Municipal School of Art from 1893 to 1896.

However, in this talk, Barry will also share recent research on lesser-known Manchester-based Arts and Crafts architects, artists, and artisans who, in 1896, formed the Northern Art Workers’ Guild in the city. The Guild’s members will be identified, with numerous illustrations of their work, alongside the exhibitions that brought them to public notice. Firms similar to F. R. Leach & Sons and artisans akin to David Parr will feature. It is a story of a northern craft revival that was neither rural nor London-focused but an essential component of the Arts and Crafts movement, located in the heart of industrial England. The Guild was unusual for its time in that women were active and equal members, holding office, giving talks, and exhibiting work at the Guild’s open exhibitions.

Whilst the Guild was relatively short-lived (1896–1912), its members and ideals played a key part in later initiatives. In 1917, the highly active Manchester branch of the Design & Industries Association was established, promoting the best in everyday machine-made products. In 1920, the Red Rose Guild of Artworkers held the first of its annual craft exhibitions, thus continuing the promotion of hand-made objects.

Barry’s beautifully illustrated talk, featuring many original documents, will bring all this to life as he reveals the untold story of Manchester’s extensive involvement in the Arts and Crafts movement.

More about Barry:

Barry Clark is an experienced speaker and a retired Manchester Metropolitan University lecturer with a lifelong interest in the Arts and Crafts movement. He is co-author, with Stephanie Boydell and Richard Fletcher, of the recently published The Northern Art Workers’ Guild and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Manchester. Barry is a craft bookbinder, chair of the Society of Bookbinders’ North West and North Wales region, and tutors bookbinding workshops at Manchester’s Portico Library.

The Northern Art workers guild front page with signatures from the writers
The Lyf so short the crafts so long to lerne picture in The Northern Art Workers Guild Book
Rules of the Northern Art Workers Guild image from book
Receive our newsletter to see what's on and what's new.
  • Getting here
  • Accessibility
  • Jobs
184/186 Gwydir Street
Cambridge CB1 2LW
info@davidparrhouse.org
‘If you do anything, do it well’
  • Terms and conditions
  • Data & Privacy policy
  • Cookie use policy
David Parr House CIO is a registered charity | Charity no 1156298. | © David Parr House CIO 2013 - 2025
184/186 Gwydir Street
Cambridge CB1 2LW
info@davidparrhouse.org
The Arts and Crafts movement in Manchester: An Untold Story with Barry Clark
Wed 28th May, 6.30pm - 8.30pm
Attend this event
Attend this event