William Morris Gallery

Entry: Free

I'd seen signs for the William Morris Gallery since I moved to my new flat and I took the opportunity to go and visit it today. The gallery is in an 18th century building, (the Morris family's home from 1848 to 1856), in Lloyd Park in Walthamstow. Entry is free and the gallery is open to the public from 10am to 5pm Wednesday to Sunday, which is the correct time for galleries and museums to be open.*

The lower-floor of the gallery houses an excellent collection of work by Morris, including his original design work, woven and printed textiles, ceramics, stained glass, furniture and books. There's also work by some of his contemporaries and artistic collaborators, such as Edward Burne-Jones, and lots of material relating to his personal life and political work. The upper-floor houses a collection of paintings and prints by Sir Frank Brangwyn, who I've never heard of before.

The William Morris Gallery does exactly what it says on the tin. It offers a comprehensive survey of Morris' work and life in a lovely setting. I left feeling more educated than awed, but it's definitely worth a visit if you're in Walthamstow.

*If you're running somewhere that people will be visiting in their spare time then you need to be open during that spare time. Obviously some people work weekends, but a large number of people don't work weekends. If you have to pick five days to be open, three week-days and two weekend-days should cater to both groups very well. So why do so many small museums insist on closing on Sundays? Let's be honest, England is a largely secular country so our continuing belief that Sunday should be treated as as a special day is very weird.