Description
From 1878 -1896 26 Upper Mall, renamed Kelmscott House, was the home of William Morris, who founded the Kelmscott Press near here in 1890. It was once owned by Sir Francis Ronalds who constructed the first electric telegraph in the garden in 1816. From 1867, then called The Retreat, it was the home of poet, minister and novelist George MacDonald and his family, who Morris visited, much admiring the garden. Behind the house, now headquarters of the William Morris Society, part of Morris's former garden remains. A small lower garden has a variety of ferns that thrive well in its shady micro-climate, and the upper walled garden has lawns, shrubs, flower beds and trees, many of them plants mentioned in Morris's writing of his garden in the 1880s and '90s.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | The Retreat |
|---|---|
| Site location | 26 Upper Mall, Hammersmith |
| Postcode | W6 9TA |
| What3Words | ///ideas.ally.green |
| Type of Site | Private Garden |
| Borough | Hammersmith & Fulham |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | Thursday and Saturday 2-5pm. Has opened for London Open House and London Open Gardens |
| Facilities | toilet |
| Events | lecture programme for members and non-members (garden not normally open to public). Has opened for OGSW |
| Public Transport | Tube: Ravenscourt Park (District), Hammersmith (Piccadilly, District, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City). Bus: 27, 91, 267, 290 |
| Research Updated | 1 June 2007 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Former home of William Morris (b.1834) between 1878, when he moved here with his family, and his death in 1896. He founded the Kelmscott Press near here in 1890. The house is now headquarters of the William Morris Society and is occasionally open to public. Behind the house is part of Morris's former garden; although the garden has decreased since his day, largely as a result of the construction of the A4 in the 1960s, there is a small lower garden behind the house with a variety of ferns that thrive well in its shady micro-climate. The upper walled garden has lawns, shrubs, flower beds and trees.
The garden of 26 Upper Mall is first mentioned when Sir Francis Ronalds (1788-1873) lived here; in 1816 he constructed the first electric telegraph in his garden, which was then 600ft long and almost an acre going back almost to King Street, throughout which he suspended some 8 miles of overhead wire. A plaque on the house commemorates this. He later experimented with placing insulated cable underground, digging a 4ft deep trench 525ft long in the garden, portions of which have been accidentally dug up by subsequent owners. The first section of subterranean cable was dug up in 1862 and is now in the Science Museum, but another section dug up in the 1920s is in the collection at Kelmscott House. In 1867 26 Upper Mall, then called The Retreat, was owned by George MacDonald, poet, minister and novelist, with his wife and 11 children; the Coach House was used to stable their horse and Shetland ponies. At that time there was a great walnut tree in the stable yard, still present in the 1890s, and the garden had a tulip tree, said to be the 2nd largest in England. The roadway was then bordered by elms between the house and river, widening into a semi-circle in front of the house. Plays were performed with a removable stage erected on the lawn and the Coach House converted into a theatre with gas lit stage.
On 12 March 1878 William Morris wrote to his wife about the MacDonald's house, which he was interested in leasing: 'I cannot help thinking that we should do very well there: and certainly the open river and garden at the back are a great advantage', going on to say 'The situation is certainly the prettiest in London . . . the garden is really most beautiful . . . There is a good garden and root house, besides the large green house, a tank in the former for watering purposes: there are 2 arbours: there are of big trees 1st a walnut by the stable: 2nd a very fine tulip tree halfway down the lawn. 3rd, 2 horse chestnuts at the end of the lawn: beyond that is a sort of orchard (many good fruit trees in it) with rough grass (gravel walk all round garden): then comes the green-house and beyond that a kitchen: garden with lots of raspberries.' Morris subsequently leased the house and lived here for the last 18 years of his life; plants growing in his garden that he wrote about in the 1880s and 1890s include almond, pear and plum trees flowering in the orchard; raspberries, mulberries, quinces, peas, cherries, as well as pears and plums; and flowers: daffodils, wallflowers, crocus, peonies of various kinds, Japanese anemones, china asters, hyacinths, sweet williams, roses, foxgloves, orange lilies, white lilies, sunflowers, hollyhocks and poppies.
In 'Making the Best of it', 1880, he wrote of London town gardens that 'uphill work or not, the town garden must not be neglected if we are to be in earnest in making the best of it. . . . Large or small, it should look both orderly and rich. It should be well fenced from the outside world. It should by no means imitate either the wilfulness of Nature, but should look like a thing never to be seen except near a house. It should, in fact, look like a part of the house. It follows from this that no private-pleasure garden should be very big, and a public garden should be divided and made to look like so many flower-closes in a meadow, or a wood, or amidst the pavement. . . . In great towns, gardens, both private and public, are positive necessities if the citizens are to live reasonable and healthy lives in body and mind.'
The garden of 26 Upper Mall is first mentioned when Sir Francis Ronalds (1788-1873) lived here; in 1816 he constructed the first electric telegraph in his garden, which was then 600ft long and almost an acre going back almost to King Street, throughout which he suspended some 8 miles of overhead wire. A plaque on the house commemorates this. He later experimented with placing insulated cable underground, digging a 4ft deep trench 525ft long in the garden, portions of which have been accidentally dug up by subsequent owners. The first section of subterranean cable was dug up in 1862 and is now in the Science Museum, but another section dug up in the 1920s is in the collection at Kelmscott House. In 1867 26 Upper Mall, then called The Retreat, was owned by George MacDonald, poet, minister and novelist, with his wife and 11 children; the Coach House was used to stable their horse and Shetland ponies. At that time there was a great walnut tree in the stable yard, still present in the 1890s, and the garden had a tulip tree, said to be the 2nd largest in England. The roadway was then bordered by elms between the house and river, widening into a semi-circle in front of the house. Plays were performed with a removable stage erected on the lawn and the Coach House converted into a theatre with gas lit stage.
On 12 March 1878 William Morris wrote to his wife about the MacDonald's house, which he was interested in leasing: 'I cannot help thinking that we should do very well there: and certainly the open river and garden at the back are a great advantage', going on to say 'The situation is certainly the prettiest in London . . . the garden is really most beautiful . . . There is a good garden and root house, besides the large green house, a tank in the former for watering purposes: there are 2 arbours: there are of big trees 1st a walnut by the stable: 2nd a very fine tulip tree halfway down the lawn. 3rd, 2 horse chestnuts at the end of the lawn: beyond that is a sort of orchard (many good fruit trees in it) with rough grass (gravel walk all round garden): then comes the green-house and beyond that a kitchen: garden with lots of raspberries.' Morris subsequently leased the house and lived here for the last 18 years of his life; plants growing in his garden that he wrote about in the 1880s and 1890s include almond, pear and plum trees flowering in the orchard; raspberries, mulberries, quinces, peas, cherries, as well as pears and plums; and flowers: daffodils, wallflowers, crocus, peonies of various kinds, Japanese anemones, china asters, hyacinths, sweet williams, roses, foxgloves, orange lilies, white lilies, sunflowers, hollyhocks and poppies.
In 'Making the Best of it', 1880, he wrote of London town gardens that 'uphill work or not, the town garden must not be neglected if we are to be in earnest in making the best of it. . . . Large or small, it should look both orderly and rich. It should be well fenced from the outside world. It should by no means imitate either the wilfulness of Nature, but should look like a thing never to be seen except near a house. It should, in fact, look like a part of the house. It follows from this that no private-pleasure garden should be very big, and a public garden should be divided and made to look like so many flower-closes in a meadow, or a wood, or amidst the pavement. . . . In great towns, gardens, both private and public, are positive necessities if the citizens are to live reasonable and healthy lives in body and mind.'
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ225783 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | Garden divided between tenants of Kelmscott House and William Morris Society |
| Site Management | William Morris Society maintains walled and fern garden |
| Dates | C19th |
| Listed Structures | LBII*: Kelmscott House |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Hammersmith & Fulham |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | The Mall |
| Tree Preservation Order | Yes |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | Yes - Area of Archaelogical Importance |
| Other LA Designation | Within The Mall Area of Special Advertisement Control |
Gallery
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Nearby parks and gardens
The Friends Meeting House was built in 1954-5, a yellow brick building designed by Hubert Lidbetter. It replaced the C18th Friends Meeting House that had been destroyed by a flying bomb in WWII, the burial ground of which is the walled garden in Furnival Gardens. Separated from the Great West Road by a high brick wall, the Meeting House has an area of trees and shrubs in front of the building and a paved area with perennial planting. Behind the building is an area of grass and shrubs. In Cromwell Lane, running north from the back of the Meeting House are mature trees and numerous daffodils have been planted in the raised bed along the middle of the road, and a strip of undeveloped land at the top of the road that has been grassed over and railed off.
The site was once the mouth of Hammersmith Creek, which had a thriving fishing industry until the early C19th. By 1830 the area had high quality residential property but later became a dense mixture of factories, housing and other uses. In the 1920s Hammersmith Council began to improve the area and the Creek was infilled in 1936. In 1948 it was decided to create a public open space on bomb-damaged land between the river and Great West Road, to be completed for the Festival of Britain. Laid out in 1951, the new riverside park was named after Dr Frederick James Furnivall, scholar and founder in 1896 of what is now the Furnivall Sculling Club. A secluded garden surrounded by a low wall was created on the former site of Hammersmith Friends Meeting House C18th burial ground, which was destroyed by a flying bomb. The north boundary was provided as part of road works in 1956 and the park was extended on the east in 1957.
Aspen Gardens is a post-war housing development of 1948 with a communal garden for its residents. The garden appears to be partly a community effort and has some mature trees, with planting by residents in beds by the flats. There is a central area surrounded by wire fencing with flower beds and a variety of containers, and several benches are provided.