The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

community of artists and craftspeople founded in 1920 in

Ditchling Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling. ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was part of the Arts and Crafts movement and its legacy led to the creation of

Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft is located in Ditchling, East Sussex, England (, OS Grid Reference TQ 32486 15293). It specialises in showcasing the artists and craftspeople who made Ditchling a creative hub in the 20th century, such as Eric Gil ...

History

The Guild grew from the arrival of

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, in 1907 with his apprentice Joseph Cribb. They were soon followed by

Desmond Chute Desmond Macready Chute (1895–1962) was an English poet and artist, who became a Catholic priest in 1927. Early life He was born in Bristol, the son of James Macready Chute (1856–1912) and his wife Abigail Philomena Henessy (1855&nda ...

and

Hilary Pepler Harry Douglas Clark Pepler (1878–1951), known as Hilary Pepler, was an English printer, writer and poet. He was an associate of both Eric Gill and G. K. Chesterton, working on publications in which they had an interest. He was also a founder w ...

. In 1921 the four founded the Guild: a

community based on the idea of the medieval guild. No women were admitted to the guild until 1972. The communal buildings and family houses grew around a site north of Ditchling, on the edge of

Ditchling Common Ditchling Common is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-west of Wivelsfield in East Sussex. It is a country park. which is owned and managed by East Sussex County Council. In many respects, it is a biologically important si ...

(now encroached by

Burgess Hill Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. It ...

) where Gill had moved with his family in 1913. A chapel had been started in 1919 and was completed for the founding. The community and families around the guild's members had grown to 41 by February 1922. Gill left Ditchling for the former Anglican monastery at Capel-y-ffin in 1924, leaving his apprentice Cribb to take over the stone carver's workshop, but the Guild continued to flourish. The Guild continued to attract many new members – carpenter George Maxwell, weavers Valentine KilBride and Bernard Brocklehurst, and wood-engraver Philip Hagreen. In 1932 the silversmith Dunstan Pruden joined, followed by artist and engraver Edgar Holloway. Notwithstanding several upheavals, the affairs of the Guild eventually stabilised and it continued for many years, later members being Jenny KilBride who joined the weaving workshop and the calligrapher Ewan Clayton, grandson of Valentine KilBride. Eventually, its affairs were finally wound up in 1989 and the workshops demolished.

Ideology

The Guild's members wanted to protect and the promote its members' work: an idea that reflected the broader Arts and Crafts Movement. The community was based around work, faith and domestic life, with workshops and a chapel. Its philosophy was encapsulated in what today might be called its mission statement, engraved on a stone plaque, now in The Wilson Museum (Cheltenham). Its philosophy was based on Roman Catholicism and in particular, the

Distributist Distributism is an economic theory asserting that the world's productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated. Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distributism was based upon Catholic social teaching princ ...

ideas of G. K. Chesterton and

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...

. Gill and Pepler's founding ideals were also heavily influenced by

Vincent McNabb Vincent McNabb, Ordo Praedicatorum, O.P. (8 July 1868 – 17 June 1943) was an Irish Catholics, Irish Catholic scholar and Dominican Order, Dominican priest based in London, active in evangelisation and Christian apologetics, apologetics. ...

Crafts

Printing and texts

A key element of the community was a

private press Private press publishing, with respect to books, is an endeavor performed by craft-based expert or aspiring artisans, either amateur or professional, who, among other things, print and build books, typically by hand, with emphasis on design, gra ...

, Saint Dominic's Press, which was run by

. It enabled members to circulate their ideas to friends and supporters and provided a creative outlet for every member of their community. The books and pamphlets it produced – including the monthly journal , ''The Game'' – are much sought after today. A

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

of the Press was published in 1995.

Other craft areas

Other areas of craft served in the Guild included stone carving, weaving, woodworking, and metalwork.

Guild members

Eric Gill

Member of Guild 1920–1924 – typographer, engraver, sculptor

Hilary Pepler

Member of the Guild 1920–1934 – writer, printer Pepler had an eclectic career, starting a social worker when he came under Gill's influence at Hammersmith. Gill interested Pepler in the art of lettering which led to involvement in publishing. and eventually printing when he moved to Ditchling in 1916 to set up the St Dominic's Press, using a traditional handpress in preference to a more automated device. In the same year he abandoned his

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

faith for Catholicism. He published ''The Game'', with Gill and Johnson, airing the views which would lie behind the foundation of the Guild. His friendship with Gill was broken by Gill's move to Wales, and was never to recover, despite the marriage of Pepler's son and Gill's daughter Betty in 1927. His interests spread beyond the Guild in the 1930s into the arena of drama and mime. His insistence on employing a non-Catholic assistant led to his acrimonious departure in 1934, his printing business continuing under the name The Ditchling Press. His mimes were performed widely in Europe and the US to great critical acclaim.

Desmond Chute

Member of the Guild 1920–1921 – engraver, later priest Chute had a brief but important role in the foundation of the Guild. He was born in Bristol and studied at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

from 1912 and later became friends with

Stanley Spencer Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE RA (30 June 1891 – 14 December 1959) was an English painter. Shortly after leaving the Slade School of Art, Spencer became well known for his paintings depicting Biblical scenes occurring as if in Cookham, the small ...

. Having met Gill 1918, he soon moved to Ditchling to learn stone carving and engraving. He was to leave the Guild however in 1921 in order too enter the priesthood. In a letter to Chute in 1940, Gill confided "how much I love you and how much I owe you" and it is fair to suggest that his departure was an important factor in Gill's alienation from the Guild. Later he moved for his health to

Rapallo Rapallo ( , , ) is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, located in the Liguria region of northern Italy. As of 2017 it had 29,778 inhabitants. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, on the Tigullio Gulf, between Portofino and Chiavar ...

in Italy, where he was a friend of

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

, and one of the Tigullian Circle around him.

Joseph Cribb

Member of the Guild 1920–1967 – stone carver Cribb was apprenticed to Gill in 1906 and followed him to Ditchling. Having served in World War I, he returned to Ditchling and became a member of the Guild very soon after its foundation. He took charge of the stonemason's shop after Gill's departure, specialising in inscriptions and decorative carvings for new buildings; he did a lot of work for the Brighton architects John Denman and eventually had his own apprentices,

John Skelton John Skelton may refer to: *John Skelton (poet) (c.1460–1529), English poet. * John de Skelton, MP for Cumberland (UK Parliament constituency) *John Skelton (died 1439), MP for Cumberland (UK Parliament constituency) *John Skelton (American footb ...

, Noel Tabbernor and

Kenneth Eager Kenneth Eager (2 January 1929 – 22 September 2013) was an English stone sculptor, and wood carver, who was part of The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic founded by Eric Gill in Ditchling, Sussex. From 1945 Eager was an assistant to Joseph Cribb ...

. He continued to work an until his death, a true hero of the Guild.

David Jones

Postulent of the Guild 1924–1925 – painter and poet After Gill, the most celebrated member of the Guild, due to his painting and his modernist war poem, ''

In Parenthesis ''In Parenthesis'' is an epic poem of the First World War by David Jones first published in England in 1937. Although Jones had been known solely as an engraver and painter prior to its publication, the poem won the Hawthornden Prize and the adm ...

'' published in 1937. In his youth he showed an enthusiasm for drawing which was interrupted by service in World War I. Having been drawn to Catholicism during the war, he was introduced to Ditchling by Fr John O'Connor (a friend of G. K. Chesterton) where he set about learning wood-engraving. He produced some remarkable murals for the Guild chapel, in particular, the painting of Christ being mocked by soldiers attired as English Tommies reveals something of the scars left by his war-time experience. He became a Dominican Tertiary in 1923 but left to join Gill at Capel y ffin in December 1925. He was later to be briefly engaged to Gill's daughter, Petra. Around 1928 he began to write the poetry that would establish his literary reputation. In 2002 he was one of the twelve featured War Poets in an exhibition at the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

George Maxwell

(1890–1957) Member of the Guild 1921–1957 – carpenter Maxwell was a wheelwright from Birmingham, knowledgeable in theology who was introduced to the Guild by Fr McNabb. He established the carpenter's shop which was to specialise in hand looms and church furniture. Maxwell was devoted to the Distributist ideal, building his own house, maintaining his own

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

as well as writing polemical essays on the movement. One son, Stephen, was killed while serving with the

Gordon Highlanders Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

Anzio Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a Port, fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine I ...

, Italy on 12 January 1944; another, Vincent, became a priest and the third son, John joined the Guild and continued the workshop after his father's death.

Valentine KilBride

(1897–1982) Member of the Guild 1926–1981 – weaver Disillusioned with life as an industrial worker, Kilbride was attracted to the world of crafts and began to teach himself the art of traditional weaving in 1920. In 1922 he joined the Guild of St Margaret in Scotland where he was to develop his skills. When he was released by that guild he came to Ditchling to work for Ethel Mairet. Like Jones, he had heard of the Guild from Fr John O'Connor; he was to become a member in 1926, the year in which he married. Five of his six children were to become involved in weaving. Eventually the management of the workshop was taken over by his daughter Jenny. His lasting contribution was to pioneer the revival of gothic style liturgical vestments, designed in a conical shape. Their use has become common to the present day.

Bernard Brocklehurst

(1904–1996) Member of the Guild 1930–1941 – weaver Brocklehurst joined the Guild as KilBride's partner. When production was suspended in 1940 due a silk shortage, he left the area and did not return. He did however continue to work on liturgical vestments.

Philip Hagreen

Member of the Guild 1930–1955 – engraver, letterer Hagreen was a leading force in the foundation of the

Society of Wood Engravers The Society of Wood Engravers (SWE) is a UK-based artists’ exhibiting society, formed in 1920, one of its founder-members being Eric Gill. It was originally restricted to artist-engravers printing with oil-based inks in a press, distinct from ...

in 1920; he visited Ditchling 1922, eventually following Gill to Capel y ffin in 1924. He returned to Ditchling as a member of the Guild in 1930 and becoming a member. His lettering continued the tradition established by Johnston and Gill of simplicity and clarity in lettering with his many engraved bookplate designs; he was also a committed distributist. He retired in 1957, but continued to paint watercolours.

Dunstan Pruden

(1907–1974) Member of the Guild 1934–1946; 1968–1974 – silversmith Pruden came to Ditchling in 1932 and became a full member of the Guild two years later. His book ''Silversmithing'' was printed by St Dominic's Press and became the foundation for his part-time teaching career at Brighton Art College. He fulfilled hundreds of commission for ecclesiastical metalwork and in addition to working in silver and gold he made carvings in ivory. Possibly his most famous work was a gold chalice made for the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool in 1959 which bears a figure of Christ in Majesty and is made from 300 wedding rings donated by widows. He left behind an unpublished autobiography entitled ''So Doth the Smith''.

Winefride Pruden

(1913–2008) Member of the Guild 1975–1988 – silversmith, writer She was taught the art of silversmithing by Dunstan and joined the Guild in 1975. She lectured widely and was the art critic for the Catholic publication

The Tablet ''The Tablet'' is a Catholic international weekly review published in London. Brendan Walsh, previously literary editor and then acting editor, was appointed editor in July 2017. History ''The Tablet'' was launched in 1840 by a Quaker convert ...

. A former President of the Society of Catholic Artists, she was made one of the first Papal dames in 1994.

Edgar Holloway

(1914–2008) Member of the Guild 1950–1988 – painter, graphic designer, engraver, print-maker Edgar Holloway first came to Ditchling from in 1948 with an established reputation for drawing and print making. He learned the art of wood-engraving from Philip Hagreen and became a Guild member in 1950. For the next twenty years he turned away from engraving and concentrated on graphic design, continuing the tradition of fine hand-drawn lettering established by Gill and Johnston. In 1969 he turned to water-colours inspired by the landscapes of Wales and Sussex and in 1972 resumed engraving. He was chairman of the Guild when it closed in 1988. The last twenty years of his life saw much interest in his work with several retrospectives.

Kenneth Eager

Member of the Guild 1974–1988 – stone cutter Originally an apprentice to Joseph Cribb in 1945, he remained at the Guild until its closure after which he retired to Malta.

Jenny KilBride

(1948–) Member of the Guild 1974–1988 – weaver and dyer The daughter of Valentine KilBride, Jenny KilBride learnt her skills from her father and in 1974 became the first woman to join the Guild. Having grown up at the Guild she still lives in Ditchling and was Chair of the Ditchling Museum Trustees.

Ewan Clayton

(1956–) Member of the Guild 1983–1988 – calligrapher Clayton is the grandson of Valentine KilBride and was the last member to join the Guild in 1982. He currently teaches calligraphy in England and abroad and is Research Professor in the Department of Art at the University of Sunderland. He has curated several exhibitions at

about calligraphy and typography as well as exhibitions on David Jones and Edward Johnston.

Other members

* Philip Baker – 1932–1939 – carpenter – brother-in-law of George Maxwell * Mark Pepler – 1932–1933 – printer – son of Hilary Pepler * Cyril Costick – 1932–1933 – printer * John Maxwell – 1958–1979 – carpenter – son of George Maxwell * Noel Knapp-Tabbernor – 1968–1978 – stonecutter * Thomas KilBride – 1960–1988 – weaver – son of Valentine KilBride

References

External links

History of the GuildDitchling Museum of Art + Craft
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic British artist groups and collectives History of East Sussex 1989 disestablishments in England 1921 establishments in England