Sawston Village History Society

Gothic Revival and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Cambridge, by Yvonne Pincher

The Arts and Crafts Movement arose in the late Nineteenth Century partly as a reaction to the growth of urbanisation and industrialisation, but also driven by the growth of a prosperous upper middle class who could afford luxury. Earlier in the century, partly due to the influence of the Oxford Movement in theology and the Cambridge Camden Society in church architecture, the Gothic style came to be seen as the most appropriate, especially in ecclesiastical contexts. There are numerous examples of Gothic Revival architecture in Cambridge, including All Saints' Church, Jesus Lane, Queens' College chapel (both by George Frederick Bodley), St. John's College chapel (George Gilbert Scott) and Girton College (Alfred Waterhouse).

The term 'Arts and Crafts' was coined by Thomas Cobden-Sanderson from the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, formed in 1887 with the aim of encouraging craft skills and improving design standards, both of which were felt to be at risk from the industrialisation of production. It promoted designs inspired by Mediaeval European, Japanese, Islamic and Icelandic art and also by the pre-Raphaelite movement. 'Arts' included interior decoration, stained glass, ceramics, furniture and textiles as well as architecture. The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society merged with the Cambridgeshire Guild of Craftsmen in 1960.

Yvonne gave numerous examples of Arts and Crafts design in Cambridge and focussed on the work of Frederick Leach, Alfred Tombleson, and David Carr. Frederick Leach was a master decorator, mural and stained glass painter who established his business in City Road, Cambridge in 1862. He worked on a number of commissions with George Frederick Bodley, George Gilbert Scott Jnr., Charles Eamer Kempe and William Morris. As his business expanded he acquired a showroom in St. Mary's Passage (now the Sahara clothes shop) and offices in King's Parade. His most significant work in Cambridge was the restoration of St. Botolph's church. He employed David Carr as a master decorator who apart from his many professional commissions, used his skills to decorate his own house at 186, Gwydir Street. He also employed Alfred Tombleson as an apprentice. Tombleson went on to work for Charles Kempe, eventually becoming manager of Kempe's stained glass works and managing director of the firm following Kempe's death in 1907. He remained in that post until the firm closed on his retirement in 1934.

Yvonne has published a guide to the Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts in Cambridge the second edition of which is currently in press.

David Bard