Kelmscott House Museum
What Visitors Say
A very small but lovely museum if you’re interested in the Arts and Crafts movement. You would struggle to spend an hour here, but that’s fine as it’s only £5.00 admission, £3.50 concessions. A great location, on the north bank of the Thames, a few minutes walk from Hammersmith Bridge. Unless you’re a massive fan of William Morris, I wouldn’t travel a long way to visit. But this is a great part of London, particularly in the sunshine, so definitely worth incorporating into a river/pub walk.
Super museum run by the William Morris Society. Tremendous place to visit for anyone even vaguely interested in the Arts and Crafts movement. It’s by no means large, but it’s charming and well worth a visit. Limited opening hours so it’s worth checking carefully if the place is open before visiting. A very small shop by the entrance with a handful of items; this seems a good sign - much more money could be made by expanding the shop.
Wonderful little museum in the former home of William Morris in the bank of the Thames. Well worth the entrance fee. Just the right amount of interpretation to go with the lovely objects and designs! 😁
I organised an out of hours private tour for myself and 12 friends for my birthday celebration and it was amazing! Such a fun and unique experience, great value for money and the staff were all really knowledgeable and helpful. Carol was incredible and so responsive during the process of emailing back and forth to organise everything, and our tour guide Ariana was so engaging and friendly on the day itself. We all had a really wonderful time, I would highly recommend! Thank you so much :)
Highly recommend visiting if you’re in the area. The woman at the front desk was super informative and gave us a bit of background on William Morris, which really added to the experience. The space itself isn’t very large, and while there are some beautiful pieces on display, it’s not as extensive or in-depth as I was hoping. I especially loved seeing the original printing press downstairs and some of Morris’s prints, but I would have loved even more content—perhaps guided tours, deeper insights into his life, and more on the women involved in the Arts and Crafts movement. There’s real potential to expand the storytelling in this space and make it something special. That said, it’s still worth a visit—some of the pieces are truly stunning, and it’s a lovely glimpse into Morris’s world.
Highlights
Kelmscott Press & the Albion
Connects Morris’s late-life private press to the Arts & Crafts ideal of ‘the book beautiful’.Original printing equipment and specimen pages illuminate how hand-set type, handmade paper and wood-engraved illustration met in works like the 1896 ‘Kelmscott Chaucer’.
Coach House workspace
Pattern & Process
Shows wallpapers and textiles alongside design drawings, revealing how repeat units grow into immersive surfaces.The famous foliage patterns were technical feats—block registration, dye chemistry and scale all had to align.
Basement displays
Morris the Socialist
Documents talks and pamphlets produced when Kelmscott House doubled as a hub for the Socialist League in the 1880s.Lecture notices and correspondence show a designer-poet turning organiser, using the house as a platform for public debate.
Coach House meeting material
Opening Hours
Fun Facts
Morris moved into the Hammersmith house in 1878 and lived here until his death in 1896; during that period he founded the Kelmscott Press (1891), whose masterpiece, the ‘Works of Geoffrey Chaucer’, appeared in 1896.
Kelmscott House was both domestic base and political platform—Morris hosted Socialist League meetings here, linking Arts & Crafts ideals with social reform.
The press’s books combined hand-cut types (notably Golden, Troy and Chaucer types) with wood-engraved illustrations after Edward Burne-Jones—an all-arts collaboration orchestrated by Morris.
