Art & Craft Movement

The Cotswold tradition in Britain 1

Detail of Arts & Crafts desk at Loughborough University

Gimson’s foreman, Peter Waals, carried on working in the same tradition in his Chalford workshop from 1919. Many of the craftsmen who worked with Gimson moved to Chalford with him including Ernest Smith, Percy Burchett and Harry Davoll. He also co-operated on a number of projects with Gimson’s former assistant Norman Jewson.

Student made chairs in a dining hall at Loughborou

In 1935, Waals was appointed advisor in design and construction at Loughborough Teacher Training College, a post which was taken over by Edward Barnsley in 1937 and held until 1965. This provided hands-on workshop training for future handicraft teachers in schools and colleges. Furniture was made by students for the residential Hazelrigg Hall and the Cotswold tradition remained an inspiration for many throughout their working lives. Much of the furniture remains at the college, now Loughborough University.

Arts & Crafts office furniture at Loughborough Uni

After Waals’s death in 1937 his widow and son tried to keep the workshop going but a disastrous fire in 1938 forced the closure of the business. Many of the craftsmen, including Fred Gardiner and Owen Scrubey, continued working independently through the twentieth century.

Sidney Barnsley’s son, Edward Barnsley, worked with Gimson’s former pupil, Geoffrey Lupton, at Froxfield, near Petersfield, Hampshire and took over the workshop in 1923. The Edward Barnsley Educational Trust at Froxfield still provides valuable workshop training for furniture makers.