Famous beds: William Morris

William Morris by George Fredric Watts

Final resting place

The bed which was the venue for the end of one the greatest Briton's lives: Queen Victoria's bed.

More than king-sized

Originally a pub promotion, now part of the V&A collection: clamber into the Great Bed Of Ware.

Trouble sleeping?

Of course, sometimes nothing feels a good as a session of snoozing under the duvet. But what on earth is the point of spending a third of our lives comatose? Find out about the science of sleep.

William Morris was moved to poetry by his bed:

The bed is an early seventeenth-century four-poster which was only ornamented by the hangings from 1891. The curtains are designed by Morris's youngest daughter, May Morris.

Records still survive showing that the embroidery took 35 weeks to complete and Morris was charged £29. They were exhibited at the Arts & Craft Exhibition of 1893. The bed cover was designed by May but Morris's wife worked on the cover itself – she signs it “Si Je Puis” (If I Can), Jane Morris.

Poem for the bed at Kelmscott

The poem on the valance was written by William Morris:

The wind's on the wold
And the night is a-cold,
And Thames runs chill
'Twixt mead and hill.
But kind and dear
Is the old house here
And my heart is warm
'Midst winter's harm.
Rest then and rest,
And think of the best
'Twixt summer and spring,
When all birds sing
In the town of the tree,
And ye in me
And scarce dare move,
Lest earth and its love
Should fade away
Ere the full of the day.
I am old and have seen
Many things that have been;
Both grief and peace
And wane and increase
No tale I tell
Of ill or well,
But this I say:
Night treadeth on day,
And for worst or best
Right good is rest.

Kelmscott Manor

William Morris had always yearned for a house in the country. Since the mid-1860s, his wife Jane was having an affair with his very close friend, the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

By 1871, this was becoming something of a public scandal in Morris’ social circle. A shared house, away from the gossip of London, offered a solution and a joint lease was arranged between Morris and Rossetti. Jane bought the freehold after Morris died in 1896 and his youngest daughter May lived there until her death in 1939.