Morris in Oxford: Exeter College, the Union Murals and More

Exeter College: where the Oxford years began

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Morris went to Exeter College at the University of Oxford in 1853. There he met Edward Jones, the future painter and designer Burne-Jones, whom the Britannica describes as Morris's lifelong friend. For anyone tracing william morris oxford history, that friendship is the single most consequential thing the university gave him.

Religious current shaped the pair's early Oxford years. The Britannica records that both Morris and Jones became deeply affected by the Oxford movement within the Church of England, and that it was assumed they would become clergymen. That expectation did not last, but it tells you the atmosphere the young men moved in.

The turn away from a clerical career came quickly. After taking his degree in 1856, Morris entered the Oxford office of the Gothic Revivalist architect G.E. Street, according to the Britannica. Architecture replaced the church, and the medieval interests that would define his later work had already taken hold. For the wider arc of his life, see our guide to places connected with Morris's life places connected with Morris's life.

The Oxford Union murals: from architecture to painting

The next shift happened inside the Oxford Union. The Britannica records that Dante Gabriel Rossetti persuaded Morris to give up architecture for painting and enrolled him among the band of friends decorating the walls of the Oxford Union with scenes from Arthurian legend based on Le Morte Darthur by Sir Thomas Malory. It is the first documented episode of Morris as a painter rather than an architect.

Travel reinforced what the Union scheme began. The Britannica notes that visits with Street and Burne-Jones to Belgium and northern France confirmed Morris in his love of medieval art. The combination of the mural project and those journeys moved him firmly toward the decorative work that would later fill the Morris & Co. workshops. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the firm was founded in April 1861 as Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Company with premises in Red Lion Square, its other members including Ford Madox Brown, Rossetti, Webb and Burne-Jones.

The Union murals mark the point where Morris moved into painting alongside Rossetti, and the same names reappear in the firm founded five years later.

What the record does and does not tell us

An honest guide should say where the sourcing stops. The Encyclopaedia Britannica records the 1853 arrival at Exeter College, the degree in 1856, the Street office and the Union mural scheme, but these sources do not fix exact dates for the mural work itself, and they do not record who currently owns or operates Exeter College or the Oxford Union buildings.

Before travelling, be aware that the evidence behind this page does not establish:

• The exact dates when Morris worked on the Oxford Union murals.
• The current owner or operator of Exeter College and the Oxford Union buildings.
• Current visitor details, opening hours and access arrangements for either building, verified on a publish date.
• Which Morris objects or works can be seen at these Oxford locations today.

The practical advice is simple. Check directly with Exeter College and the Oxford Union for visiting arrangements and current displays before you plan a trip, since neither is documented in the sources behind this page.

Morris places beyond Oxford

Oxford was the beginning, not the whole story. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, after his marriage Morris commissioned Philip Webb to build Red House, and the National Trust records that Red House was designed by Webb and completed in 1860. The National Trust describes it as a family home for William Morris and his wife Jane and the hub of an artistic community, and it is a National Trust property today. Burne-Jones called it, in the National Trust's record, a quote worth repeating:

London held the later decades. The William Morris Society records that Kelmscott House in Hammersmith was Morris's home for the last eighteen years of his life, and that there he pursued new creative directions for Morris & Co., experimented with book design and private printing, and became a leading voice in the Socialist League. The Society, a charity founded in 1955 to share knowledge of Morris's life and works, is based in the Coach House and Lower Rooms of the house.

Each of these places has its own guide on this site, with the sourcing set out in the same way as here.

Together they show how a short undergraduate friendship at Exeter College turned into a long programme of making.