Broad Leys, built in 1898
Looking down from the terrace to Lake Windermere
The origin of the Arts & Crafts movement can be found in the True principles of Augustus Pugin (1812-1852), the Seven Lamps of Architecture by John Ruskin (1819-1900) and the revolutionary energy of William Morris (1834-96). They influenced later artists, craftsmen and architects to devote their careers to an earthly paradise. Morris wasn’t an architect, but he understood how new buildings should be built in the modest vernacular.
Yorkshireman Charles F.A Voysey (1857-1941) studied with JP Seddon until 1874 and then studied for a year under George Devey, eminent country-house designer, in 1880. Voysey made money early on as a designer of wallpaper, textiles and furnishings, showing the influence of Arthur Mackmurdo & William Morris in a simple Arts & Crafts style.
He established his own architectural practice in London and in 1888 his plans for small houses were published in The British Architect. Voysey became known as an Arts & Crafts architect and a designer of some prominent country houses whose work, widely publicised in British and European journals, was influential in Europe between 1890-1910.
Rejecting Classical architectural teaching, Voysey applied Augustus Pugin and John Ruskin’s theories to designing simple, well-built houses. His works were thus formative in the evolution of the modern architectural movement. The interiors of his nature-related, cottage-style buildings were typically long and low, with clean lines, exteriors famous for their characteristic white rough rendered walls, horizontal ribbon windows, high pitched roofs & huge chimneys.
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Yorkshireman Charles F.A Voysey (1857-1941) studied with JP Seddon until 1874 and then studied for a year under George Devey, eminent country-house designer, in 1880. Voysey made money early on as a designer of wallpaper, textiles and furnishings, showing the influence of Arthur Mackmurdo & William Morris in a simple Arts & Crafts style.
He established his own architectural practice in London and in 1888 his plans for small houses were published in The British Architect. Voysey became known as an Arts & Crafts architect and a designer of some prominent country houses whose work, widely publicised in British and European journals, was influential in Europe between 1890-1910.
Rejecting Classical architectural teaching, Voysey applied Augustus Pugin and John Ruskin’s theories to designing simple, well-built houses. His works were thus formative in the evolution of the modern architectural movement. The interiors of his nature-related, cottage-style buildings were typically long and low, with clean lines, exteriors famous for their characteristic white rough rendered walls, horizontal ribbon windows, high pitched roofs & huge chimneys.
terrace, with curved bows breaking into the hipped roof.
Broad Leys' terrace overlooks Windermere, and has a more formal garden front. with three two-storey curved bows breaking into a big hipped roof. Broad Leys Cumbria is one of the Arts and Crafts movement’s masterpieces, and was originally created for the family of a Victorian industrialist from Wakefield in 1898: Arthur Currer Briggs and his wife Helen. It's a fine example of Voysey's design and lies just south of Bowness on Windermere in the English Lake District.
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At the end of the war it was sold to power boat racers in 1952, and Broad Leys is now the home of the Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club. However at least during the week, anyone can stay in this mansion with its elegant curved bay windows and Windermere views.
The Arts & Crafts movement might have been traditional to medieval and pre-industrial craft. But it was driven by the contemporary romantic socialism i.e a better life for all, rather than a system driven by profit and privilege. Few Arts & Crafts men and women practiced after WW1. Yet the thread of English Architecture, from Morris and Ruskin onwards, searched for the modern spirit rather than offering mere parodies of the past. As we see in the best of the garden cities today!
In 1900 Voysey was the leading European representative in architecture and design whose influence on Mackintosh and Walton in the north was clear, as was that on Baillie-Scott and Ashbee in the south. He built what was to be simple, comfortable and enjoyable, living a homely and honest life amidst lovely gardens. Thank you to the Voysey Society.
simple, light filled lounge room
bedroom overlooking the lake
with Arts and Crafts tiled fireplace
Nikolaus Pevsner noted it was Voysey’s masterpiece, with extensive front terraced gardens and 3 large curved bay windows, stretching up to the first floor, giving magnificent views over the lake. The family stayed there most summers and often invited Beatrix Potter and dad Rupert to stay with them. He was a keen photographer and took great interior photos in its Victorian heyday. Read Broad Leys: The creation, life & times of an Arts & Crafts House.
Voysey's fame was a result of his indifference to design at the time. He drew away from the ornate and intricate look that so many architects and designers favoured in Victorian times, instead using straight lines, gentle curves and open spaces. Not exactly a minimalist style, but reflecting a clear desire for open space eg see the hall. Note Broad Leys is the first of Voysey’s houses ever to offer accommodation to the public, in rooms restored to their original splendour.
See many high quality local restaurants and Lakeland pubs nearby. Visitors access the steamers which run the length of the lake, stopping at Ambleside at the north end of the lake and Lakeside on the south end. Some of the most famous and challenging Lakeland fell walks and beautiful scenery offers numerous biking and cycle routes.
The Lake District in the northern county of Cumbria has some of U.K’s best Arts & Crafts architecture. Close to Broad Leys is Blackwell, a fine piece of Arts & Crafts architecture designed by H Baillie Scott.Moor Crag, designed by Voysey in 1898 as a holiday home, is set in landscaped grounds. See Ghyll Head, at Bowness-on-Windermere, with roughcast walls and huge stacks on sweeping slate roofs. In 1908 Voysey designed the small Littleholme in Kendal Cumbria for Arthur Simpson, Arts & Crafts designer. And visit Wordsworth’s homes at Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount; Beatrix Potter's Hill Top Farm with its Potter Museum & Exhibition; and Holker Hall gardens.
Voysey's fame was a result of his indifference to design at the time. He drew away from the ornate and intricate look that so many architects and designers favoured in Victorian times, instead using straight lines, gentle curves and open spaces. Not exactly a minimalist style, but reflecting a clear desire for open space eg see the hall. Note Broad Leys is the first of Voysey’s houses ever to offer accommodation to the public, in rooms restored to their original splendour.
See many high quality local restaurants and Lakeland pubs nearby. Visitors access the steamers which run the length of the lake, stopping at Ambleside at the north end of the lake and Lakeside on the south end. Some of the most famous and challenging Lakeland fell walks and beautiful scenery offers numerous biking and cycle routes.
The Lake District in the northern county of Cumbria has some of U.K’s best Arts & Crafts architecture. Close to Broad Leys is Blackwell, a fine piece of Arts & Crafts architecture designed by H Baillie Scott.Moor Crag, designed by Voysey in 1898 as a holiday home, is set in landscaped grounds. See Ghyll Head, at Bowness-on-Windermere, with roughcast walls and huge stacks on sweeping slate roofs. In 1908 Voysey designed the small Littleholme in Kendal Cumbria for Arthur Simpson, Arts & Crafts designer. And visit Wordsworth’s homes at Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount; Beatrix Potter's Hill Top Farm with its Potter Museum & Exhibition; and Holker Hall gardens.
Beatrix Potter and a cleric, at Broad Leys
date? Broad Leys photo gallery
In addition to design and architectural work, which largely ended when WW1 started, he wrote 2 books: Reason as the Basis of Art (1906) and Individuality (1915). Voysey won the RIBA Gold Medal in 1940, and died in Winchester in Feb 1941. John Betjeman paid tribute and Pevsner (both later founders of the Victorian Society) recorded his place in architectural history. Then his widow Helen allowed Broad Leys to be used as an auxiliary hospital for WW2 officers.
At the end of the war it was sold to power boat racers in 1952, and Broad Leys is now the home of the Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club. However at least during the week, anyone can stay in this mansion with its elegant curved bay windows and Windermere views.
The Arts & Crafts movement might have been traditional to medieval and pre-industrial craft. But it was driven by the contemporary romantic socialism i.e a better life for all, rather than a system driven by profit and privilege. Few Arts & Crafts men and women practiced after WW1. Yet the thread of English Architecture, from Morris and Ruskin onwards, searched for the modern spirit rather than offering mere parodies of the past. As we see in the best of the garden cities today!
In 1900 Voysey was the leading European representative in architecture and design whose influence on Mackintosh and Walton in the north was clear, as was that on Baillie-Scott and Ashbee in the south. He built what was to be simple, comfortable and enjoyable, living a homely and honest life amidst lovely gardens. Thank you to the Voysey Society.