William Morris’s lifelong love for the River Thames is well known, and the relationship went much deeper than simple appreciation. This talk will explore Morris’s designs for printed fabrics, showing how the river and its tributaries were present at every stage of the fabric-making process: both as a key source of design inspiration and as a key industrial resource at his factory on the River Wandle.

This event is part of the Totally Thames Festival, an annual celebration of what is arguably London’s biggest natural asset; the River Thames.

Dr. Sarah Mead Leonard is an independent scholar and freelance cultural heritage consultant. Her PhD, titled “‘The beauty of the bough-hung banks’: William Morris in the Thames Landscape”, was completed in 2020. She is now developing a book on the subject.