Keswick School of Industrial Art (KSIA) was founded in 1884 by Canon
Hardwicke Rawnsley
Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley (29 September 1851 – 28 May 1920) was an Anglican priest, poet, local politician and conservationist. He became nationally and internationally known as one of the three founders of the National Trust for Places of H ...
and his wife Edith as an evening class in woodwork and
repoussé metalwork at the Crosthwaite Parish Rooms, in
Keswick, Cumbria
Keswick ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Allerdale Borough in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically, until 1974, it was part of Cumberland. It lies within the Lake District National ...
.
[Bott, p. 117] The enterprise, designed to alleviate unemployment, prospered, and within ten years more than a hundred men were attending classes. A new building was erected for the school at a nearby site.
The school closed in 1984 and the building became a restaurant.
History
Rawnsley was the vicar of
Crosthwaite
Crosthwaite is a small village located in the Parish of Crosthwaite and Lyth, South Lakeland, Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Coun ...
, at the edge of Keswick, from 1883 to 1917. He was one of the three co-founders of the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
and was a prominent figure in philanthropic enterprises in the area, helping to establish a grammar school, a hospital and a farm school.
Inspired by the precepts of
John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...
, Rawnsley and his wife set up free evening classes in the parish rooms, beginning in November 1884, to teach metalwork and wood carving under the supervision of a London professional woodcarver and a local jeweller. In the winter months there was considerable unemployment in the town; the Rawnsleys provided training in skills that could alleviate the problem.
[
The school prospered and swiftly developed a reputation for high quality copper and silver decorative metalwork. By 1888 nearly seventy men were attending the classes.][ By 1890 the school was exhibiting nationally and winning prizes;]["The School of Industrial Arts at Keswick". ''The Manchester Guardian'', 5 April 1894, p. 8] Its numbers now more than a hundred, it had outgrown its cramped home in the parish rooms, and Rawnsley raised funds for a purpose-built school nearby. Among his supporters were Walter Crane
Walter Crane (15 August 184514 March 1915) was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most influential, and among the most prolific, children's book creators of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and K ...
, Holman Hunt
William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolis ...
, and G. F. Watts
George Frederic Watts (23 February 1817, in London – 1 July 1904) was a British painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement. He said "I paint ideas, not things." Watts became famous in his lifetime for his allegorical work ...
.[ The new building, to which the school moved in 1894, was designed by the Lancaster architects ]Paley and Austin
Sharpe, Paley and Austin are the surnames of architects who practised in Lancaster, Lancashire, England, between 1835 and 1946, working either alone or in partnership. The full names of the principals in their practice, which went under vario ...
at a cost of £1,300.[Rawnsley, p. 124] The workrooms were on the ground floor, with the showroom and a library on the upper floor. Beneath the balcony of the façade is the slogan:
The loving eye and patient hand
Shall work with joy and bless the land
The school was mainly financed from sales of its products. Its funds became inadequate in the 1980s, from a combination of inadequate marketing and cheaper imported goods. The school closed in 1984.[Bott, p. 119] Keswick Museum and Art Gallery
Keswick Museum is a local museum based in Keswick in the English Lake District, which exhibits aspects of the landscape, history and culture of the area.
History
The collection was established as the Keswick Museum of Local and Natural History, ...
displays a range of the school's works. The building, with its façade intact, became a restaurant.[
]
Directors
Reference:
See also
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* Newlyn Copper
Notes
References
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Further reading
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External links
KSIA.co.uk
Art schools in England
Arts and Crafts movement
Education in Cumbria
Keswick, Cumbria
Paley, Austin and Paley buildings
Educational institutions established in 1884
Educational institutions disestablished in 1984
1884 establishments in England
1984 disestablishments in England