William Morris photographed by Frederick Hollyer, 1887
“It has been most truly said at our meetings that these old buildings do not belong to us only. They are not in any sense our property, to do as we like with. We are only trustees for those that come after us.
So we will say that if a building is pretty and romantic (i.e., if it be beautiful to the eye, and recalls to the mind the interest of the life of times past) there must be very strong public reasons for its destruction: no private ones can be strong enough. As to the public reasons, I must say in the course of my life I have never known one serious, real public reason for the destruction of a beautiful building.
Of course there are heaps of private reasons, such as wanting to make another £500 a year for oneself, or the adding 2s. 6d. to the dividend of a company one is interested in; but such reasons as these are not sufficient for the destruction of a building which is at once pretty and romantic.
And if you care to preserve the buildings, in the first place, you will certainly feel it your duty to sacrifice some whims, and, perhaps, some convenience of the passing hour to your love for them.”
Extracts from William Morris’s address at the 12th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. 3rd July 1889.