Blog

Archive Closure Due to the COVID-19 outbreak the Archive is currently closed and will remain so until the Government advise it is safe for Museums to open again. This closure has meant we have had to cancel our programme of […]

In 1839, tragedy struck as Benjamin Warner died. At the point of his death, Warner managed the family business making loom harnesses and as an engineer for Jacquard Looms. His wife, Ann, stepped in after Warner’s death and took over […]

On 1 September 1939, France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany following their invasion of Poland. By the end of 1945, six years after war was declared, the conflict had spanned across the globe, and resulted in the […]

Few movements in design history have captured the public’s imagination like Bauhaus has. Bauhaus was an avant-garde German design school that operated between the years of 1919 to 1933, when it was forced to close from pressure by the Nazi […]

History was made on 20 July 1969 when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) successfully landed twelve men on the moon. At the height of geopolitical tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States of America, an estimated […]

If you didn’t have the chance to go on one of our Archive Collection Visits at Braintree Textile Fair, then here is your chance to see what you missed. Our theme this year was ‘All the Nine’s’ and focused on […]

Key to Warner & Sons success over almost an entire century of business was their passion for contemporary design whilst maintaining the more traditional arm of their business. Warner & Sons would frequently purchase work from emerging and influential designers […]

When in conversation with her architect, Sir Edward Lutyens, at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1921, Princess Marie Louise formed the idea of commissioning the perfect doll’s house as a gift to Queen Mary. Known as one of the […]

The strengths of true designs often shine more during times of austerity: the limitations of materials allow the creative mind to offer alternatives that may never normally reach the market place. During WWII rationing of all kinds were in place […]

Gardens and landscapes have been depicted in art and wall murals since antiquity, but after the fall of the Roman Empire they became representations for religious and figural scenes. It was not until the 16th century that artists began to […]