David Parr House
Arts and Crafts Metalwork
June 2nd - July 30, 2022
Digital exhibition free to access https://exhibitions.davidparrhouse.org/
A copper charger with repoussé central peacock pattern and motto. This design
was illustrated in The House: A Journal of Home Arts and Crafts in July 1900. The motto is
that of the Fordham family who had estates in Cambridge area. This is a variation of a
design by George Tanner, circa 1900. Image Credit – Dave Marshall
In the winter of 1890, the class was begun by a local estate owner, Harold Hurrell, in the
small village of Newton, Cambridgeshire. Like many philanthropic employers at the time,
Harold was keen to improve the education and quality of life for the workers in his
community. The class would evolve into the Newton School of Metal Work and continue to
operate successfully for over half a century.
The School began at the peak of the Arts & Crafts Movement as one of numerous classes
under the umbrella of the Home Arts and Industries Association but it was one of a much
smaller number to become both a thriving metal working school and a successful village
industry.
This exhibition, based on research conducted by Arts and Crafts dealer, Dave Marshall, will
explore the history of the School from beginning to end; the founders, key designers and
workers and the organizations that influenced and shaped its success.
Piecing together the history of a School that was little documented during its lifetime is never
straightforward but it has been made much easier by the foresight of a relative of the former
tutor at the School, Bob Pluck, who thankfully retained an important archive of designs and
photographs.
Pilgrim Trust Curator at David Parr House, Charlotte Woodley, says:
“We were very excited to have this opportunity to work with Dave Marshall to create this new
exhibition on the Newton School of Metalwork. So much is owed to Bob Pluck, who, like
Elsie Palmer at the David Parr House, was a careful custodian of a relative’s creative output,
this time in the form of the rich design archive. For the first time 47 pieces created by
the School will be displayed in our visitor centre and through our digital exhibition we are
able to connect the pieces with their design history. We hope that by telling the story of this
local Arts and Crafts School we help to cement its place in history, reviving not only the
memory of the school and its founders and designers, but also that of the 70 working class
men associated with it.”
Dave Marshall (Arts and Crafts dealer and Researcher) says:
“In early 2020 the chance find of a piece by the Newton School of Metal Work led
eventually to an introduction to Bob Pluck. Bob was a life long resident of Newton
village in Cambridgeshire and his great uncle had been the full time tutor at the
School for many years. Over the next year or so we became friends and worked
together on piecing together the full history of the School using an incredible archive
of material that Bob had the foresight to salvage from the old workshops.
This exhibition is the culmination of that project, combining historical facts with
original photographs and hand drawn designs alongside a significant number of
pieces of art metalwork produced by the School. Sadly Bob Pluck passed away in
August of 2021 but I know he was both excited about and keen to support this
exhibition which will finally help to show the contribution of this largely forgotten
School to Arts and Crafts metalwork and the local community.”
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