Philip Webb in Cumbria
Philip Speakman Webb (1831-1915) was born in Oxford, the son of a doctor. He was articled to John Billing of Reading, and later worked for George Street in Oxford, becoming his chief assistant. In Oxford he met William Morris. He set up his own practice in London in 1856, and joined Morris’s ‘firm’ in 1861. With William Morris he founded the The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB).
He hardly designed anything except houses, his first being Red House (1859) for Morris. All his houses were outstanding examples of the Arts and Crafts Movement, of which he became the main theorist. For Morris’s firm he designed furniture, glass and metalwork.
His principal town houses are No 1 Palace Green (1868) and No 19 Lincoln Inn Fields (1868). Principal country houses are Joldwyns, Surrey (1873), Smeaton manor, Yorkshire (1878) and Conyhurst, Surrey (1885).
George Howard of Naworth Castle near Brampton was an able artist and friend of the Pre-Raphaelites, and a keen patron of Philip Webb. Webb had built two houses for his Naworth Castle Estate, Four Gables and Green Lane House, the latter intended for the vicar. Much financial help was offered towards building a new church in Brampton by Charles Howard M.P. on condition that he chose the architect.
Webb’s plan for St Martin’s Church is quite unlike most other Victorian Churches, with the body of the church being almost square. It is the only church designed by the Pre-Raphaelite architect Philip Webb, and contains one of the most exquisite sets of stained glass windows designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, and executed in the William Morris studio.
In 1901 Philip Webb retired to the country and ceased practicing.
| Brampton – St Martin | 1878 |
| Brampton – Four Gables | 1876-8 |
| Brampton – Green Lanes | |
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