The Home of William Morris

13

Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire

The Home of William Morris

Invitation to tender:

Activity Planning Services

Kelmscott Manor

INVITATION TO TENDER

Contents Page

1 Kelmscott and Morris: Past, Present and Future 3

2 Activity Plan Brief 3

3 The need for the Activity Plan 6

4 The Project 7

5 The Task 7

6 The Product 8

7 The Consultant 9

8 Reporting 10

9 Timescales 10

10 Information to be included in the bid 11

11 Budget 11

12 Submission of Tender 12

13 Contract award criteria 12

14 Tender process and conditions 13

1 Kelmscott and Morris: Past, Present and Future

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL), an elected college of more than 2,900 Fellows, is Britain’s oldest independent learned society concerned with the study of the material culture of the past. Founded in 1751 for ‘the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries’, it supports the Fellowship today in conservation and research, communicating knowledge of the past to the widest possible audience.

Kelmscott Manor is a small estate in Oxfordshire, owned by the Society since 1962. It was the summer home of William Morris, designer, craftsman, writer, artist, conservationist, and political thinker. The estate includes the Manor House and its garden, and an important group of historic barns, dovecot, stabling, and five cottages. Thirteen of the buildings are listed (1 Grade I, 4 Grade II* and 8 Grade II). It is situated in a beautiful village whose unspoilt character reflects the vigilance and energy of Morris and his family. Kelmscott Manor is open to the public and receives up to 18,000 visitors a year.

1.2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Kelmscott Manor is an internationally important site inextricably associated with William Morris, his family and circle. The project will explore the inspirational impact that Kelmscott had on Morris, how this manifested itself, his influence on succeeding generations and his enduring worldwide legacy. Proposals are informed by an options appraisal and extensive consultation. The Grade 1 Manor, estate and collections will be re-interpreted and displayed to provide a deeper understanding of their significance. A programme of learning and activities will attract a new and wider audience, including community groups, children and young heritage professionals; training opportunities will be offered. Access into and around the estate, including unsatisfactory parking arrangements, will be improved. Facilities will be upgraded and two new buildings constructed to accommodate growing visitor numbers and provide additional learning and exhibition spaces. Repairs and alterations to the fabric will conform with Morris's conservation philosophy and address urgent conservation needs.

2 Activity Plan Brief

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The Society of Antiquaries of London requires an experienced consultant or consultant team with a successful track record in helping heritage attractions develop their audiences, Education & Outreach to develop and deliver an Activity Plan that will create and provide a new, innovative and sustainable programme for Kelmscott Manor. The plan is being prepared as part of a Stage 2 bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for resources to transform our understanding of the past at Kelmscott Manor. The Society’s new vision is to:

Explore the inspirational impact that Kelmscott Manor and its history had on Morris and how this manifested itself, his influence on succeeding generations and his enduring legacy worldwide.

The Activity Plan and its delivery will have an essential role in transforming this heritage site

to support public engagement, education, community engagement and research which its history and setting merit. The offer must be fit-for-purpose, affordable and sustainable and deliver an efficient programme which attracts new audiences, provides creative interpretation, and offers a range of opportunities for participation.

2.2 BACKGROUND INFORMATION

2.2.1 History

Kelmscott Manor Estate is located adjacent to the Thames on the southern side of Kelmscott village. It lies within the Kelmscott Conservation Area in an important historic and natural landscape designated as the Upper Thames Tributaries Environmentally Sensitive Area and as an Area of High Landscape Value in the West Oxfordshire Local Plan.

Kelmscott is inextricably linked with William Morris, the designer, craftsman, poet, pioneer socialist and a founding father of building conservation. Morris and his friend the painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti took a lease on the property in 1871. Following William’s death in 1896, his widow Jane purchased the property and lived there with their daughters May and Jenny. May died in 1938, leaving the property to Oxford University. In 1962 the property passed to the Society of Antiquaries as the residuary legatee of May’s will.

The Estate consists of:

·  12.5 acres containing archaeological remains;

·  a 17th century farmstead consisting of:

o  Grade I listed Manor House dating to 1600

o  Four Grade II* listed cottages designed by Philip Webb and Ernest Gimson and one Grade II listed cottage (not included in this project)

o  Seven Grade II listed buildings and structures:

§  South Road Barn

§  North Road Barn

§  South–east barn

§  Paddock Barn

§  Dovecot

§  Stone slab boundary fence

§  Manor Garden Walls & attached summerhouse and privy.

o  Several other barns and structures of historical importance but not listed

o  The Manor House Gardens and adjacent West Meadow listed in Historic England’s Register of Historic Parks & Gardens (non-statutory).

The House contains an Accredited Museum collection (ACE ref. No. AN59) consisting of furniture, paintings, drawings, prints, textiles, ceramics and other objects from the homes of William Morris. Additionally, there are sixteenth and seventeenth-century furnishings of the original owners of the House, the Turner family. There is an extensive documentary archive relating to the Morris family and earlier occupancy of the house. Many of the interiors are preserved in a form close to their state during Morris’s and Rossetti’s occupancy. For Morris, Kelmscott embodied the connection between centuries-old craftsmanship and harmonious modern living, between tradition and innovation. Its setting is also testament to Morris’s love of nature, and this strongly influenced his output of wallpapers and textiles conceived and produced between the years 1872 to 1885. Few historic houses in Britain offer the visitor such a direct interface and experience between the historic and natural environment.

A rare, historically intact but underused, complex of four historic farm buildings sits adjacent to the Manor house on its south and west, and a fifth farm building lies just to its north. Each listed Grade II, these barns, the main ones of which are sited at the junctions of three brickyards, are survivals of the local vernacular building tradition, built and roofed in local materials, including Stonesfield slates. The group, the oldest of which date from the time of the 1665 extension to the Manor House, forms what would have been a working agricultural estate, including a threshing and wheat barn (South Road), a barley and stable barn (South West Barn), a granary and cart store (Granary) and an animal byre (Paddock Barn). The historic surfaces and textures of these buildings and of the spaces between them contribute to the heritage value of the Manor site. They also have the potential to provide for new and improved spaces for education, interpretation and participation as well as new and better visitor amenities.

2.2.2 Recent Developments

Kelmscott Manor is at forefront of the Society’s Vision to become an outward facing heritage charity that engages and informs the public. In preparation for this project we have produced a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) which highlights the significance of the site and its wider environment and developed the Vision (document) for Kelmscott Manor: a place of history and inspiration. This is a conceptual framework defined by three principal periods through Kelmscott’s history (pre-Morris; Morris and post-Morris). We have also commissioned a Quinquennial Report on all buildings and built structures, including assessment, recommendations and costs. We have received two grants from HLF (Catalyst and Transition) to help us explore how best to deliver this vision.

The following documents are available to applicants:

1. Outline Audience Development and Activity Plan;

2. Outline Business Case;

3. Interpretative Concept Statement;

4. Design concept statement and cost report

5. Visitor and volunteer surveys (REF)

6. Heritage Lottery Fund application Stage 1 (offer letter)

7. Arts Council England Resilience Fund (offer letter)

The Society has recognised that more substantive improvements in both the offer and the attraction at Kelmscott can only be achieved through a major reappraisal of the functionality of the Manor and its outbuildings, and has determined to make a two-stage bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for support towards these ideals.

2.2.3 Kelmscott Today

The Society has made a considerable investment in saving the Manor in the early 1960s and its ongoing maintenance. However, the infrastructure was designed to accommodate up to 6000 visitors a year in the 1990s and now we have 20,856 (2014). Increased visitor demand has put unsustainable pressure on the site and this is expected to escalate. Interpretation and displays severely restrict our ability to attract and develop new audiences and to provide people with a deeper understanding of the Kelmscott that inspired William Morris.

The Kelmscott and Morris project is presently based on the assumption that on completion in 2021, the Society will, from 2022, be opening Kelmscott Manor to the public 4 days a week from April to October and an additional 1 day a week for education activities (5 days p/w in total). We anticipate the Manor will attract up to 40,000 visitors to the House. We have concluded that this project, with its anticipated growth in visitors, needs improved interpretation and visitor facilities. A programme of essential repair is the only way to ensure a sustainable future for the Manor whilst preserving its unique character for future generations to explore.

3 THE NEED FOR THE ACTIVITY PLAN

The Society is seeking a consultancy to work with key partner organisations, stakeholders and the community to develop an Activity Plan. This commission is to develop a Plan to help assess the financial implications of the project and to demonstrate its long-term viability. It will take into consideration the current operational status of Kelmscott and the planned future development of the site. The Plan will inform and shape the development of the project, and will be produced in consideration of work by others on the operation and management of the building as well as revenue generation. The Activity Plan will be included in external funding applications - such as to Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Stage 2, the Arts Council England and Major Trusts and Foundations and must therefore be produced following the detailed guidance offered by the HLF.

Activity planning for the future of Kelmscott is critical to its success. The Society has undertaken a number of planning exercises for Kelmscott in scoping the Project, but none has represented a comprehensive approach to the development of a new Vision, new facilities and new audiences to the extent envisaged in this project.

4 THE PROJECT

Kelmscott Manor is an internationally important collection of 17th-19th century listed buildings, furniture, pictures, textiles and objects created by and associated with William Morris, his family and circle. The project will rejuvenate the interpretation of the Manor by focusing on how the history of the property, village and the natural landscape inspired William Morris and in turn, how Morris influenced modern concepts of heritage conservation, art literature and design. Community archaeological, historical and environmental programmes, together with the Manor’s museum and Archive collections will be interpreted and displayed in ways that will broaden our visitor offer. A new, wider audience of community groups, children and young scholars and a modest growth in visitor numbers will require improvements to the presently inadequate visitor facilities. The fabric of the historic buildings will be repaired in the spirt pioneered by Morris, for the enjoyment of our visitors and future generations.

The Society’s aim is therefore to adapt its accommodation at Kelmscott for a wider range of visitors, specialists and learning/community groups by improving the way the Society manages and uses Kelmscott Manor to provide public benefit. Overall the Society intends to develop its operation at Kelmscott to improve, extend and widen public access through:

·  The opening up of more of the site to the public

·  The introduction of a learning programme with dedicated staff and resources to deliver it

·  The creation of new educational facilities

·  The improvement of amenities for visitors and staff

·  The enhancement of the setting of the Manor, its site and the surrounding natural environment

·  The provision of interpretation spaces with the historic Farm Complex

·  The provision of exhibition and research space within the Manor House

5 THE TASK

The Society now requires the production of an Activity Plan to help achieve these objectives by supporting its Stage 2 bid for improvements to education and outreach, interpretation, research and training as well as widening our audiences, building on the strong volunteering platform which already exists, and increasing participation in the future of Kelmscott. This must follow the guidance provided in HLF’s Activity Plan Guidance 2012

The Consultant will be expected to work with us to undertake a programme of research, definition and specification to:

·  Understand and identify the existing and potential target audiences which can be attracted to Kelmscott

·  Develop means of adjusting all of the visitor facilities on offer at Kelmscott to appeal to existing and new audiences

·  Refine our approach to the interpretation of Kelmscott to respond to the needs of existing and new audiences through a variety of means (on site and through different media)

·  Define the Education & Outreach programme and opportunities through which we can maximise the impact of Kelmscott for key audiences (see Outline Education & Outreach Plan).

·  Provide a brief for the design components of new visitor facilities, including new exhibition and interpretation spaces, to feed into the Kelmscott Buildings Master Plan

·  Review relevant specialist reports as part of the Kelmscott Buildings Master Plan, include the Access Plan, Conservation Management Plan, Interpretation Plan and Exhibition Development Plan.