Group Tour Operator and DMC for Oxfordshire

Oxford Christ Church University

Morning coach pick up from your home town. Afternoon visit to Christ Church Oxford, one of oldest and most famous of the University houses in Oxford. Enjoy the full and informative audio tour, during the visit see the stained glass windows in the Cathedral by Edward Burne-Jones and the Pre-Raphealite friends of William Morris.

Chipping Camden and picturesque Broadway

Morning visit to Court Barn located in Chipping Campden which celebrates the Arts and Crafts artists of the Cotswolds. Enjoy a village walking tour with an optional visit to a traditional working Silversmith. Free time for lunch before travelling to the romantic Cotswold village of Broadway, where we visit to the Gordon Russell Design Museum which celebrates his innovative designs and tells the unique story of his furniture company. Next we visit the Broadway Museum which has a room devoted to the Colony of Artists and Writers who made the village their home over a hundred years ago.

Optional visit to National Trust’s Hidecote Gardens. An Arts and Crafts-inspired garden with intricately designed outdoor spaces in the rolling Cotswold hills – supplement on request.

Kelmscott Manor and Buscot Park

Today we enjoy a private tour of Kelmscott Manor, this was the Morris family’s country retreat. This Grade I listed farmhouse borders the River Thames and homes a celebrated collection of the work of Morris and Rossetti. Enjoy a buffet lunch or cream Tea in the tea rooms. In the afternoon we visit Buscot Park and Gardens with its spectacular artworks by Burne-Jones and Rossetti. If time permits and continue to The Great Coxwell Barn, a huge monastic 13^th century barn considered as beautiful as a cathedral by William Morris.

Rodmartin Manor and Regency Cheltenham

Private tour of Rodmarton Manor with tea and cake, this is a supreme example of a house built and all its furniture made according to Arts and Crafts ideals and was one of the last country houses to be built and furnished in the old traditional style where everything was done by hand with local stone, local timber and local craftsmen.

In the afternoon we enjoy free time in Cheltenham, famous for its Regency buildings, including the Pittville Pump Room, a remnant of Cheltenham’s past as a spa town. Visit The Wilson Museum with its collection of fine art and changing displays in its designated Arts and Crafts Movement collection.

‘Morris and Friends in Oxford’ and return home

Visit to the Ashmolean Museum to see the Pre-Raphaelite gallery. Next we visit The Oxford Museum of Natural History, a huge stunning Arts and Crafts style building with a striking glass and iron roof, a prime example of Pre-Raphaelite vision of science and art.  We then call into Harris Manchester College Chapel with stained glass by Morris and Burne-Jones. Lastly we visit The Oxford Union Library and debating chamber including Pre-Raphaelite murals.

V&A Museum and Hammersmith Houses

Travel to London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, here visit the Green Dining Room decorated by the Firm and find a selection of Morris & Co designs, furniture, glass, wallpapers and textiles mostly in the British Galleries. After enjoy visit to Holy Trinity Church, Chelsea also known as the ‘Cathedral of the Arts & Crafts’.

Afternoon visit the former home of Emery Walker, a printer and friend of Morris, step inside the late 19th century interior with many Morris & Co furnishings. Next Kelmscott House, the William Morris Society now occupies the basement and coach house of Morris’s former London home.

Supplement on request*

William Morris Gallery and return home

Depart the hotel and head to north London where The William Morris Gallery, built in the 1740s and set in Lloyd Park, Walthamstow. This grade II* listed building was Morris’s family home from 1848 to 1856.