While visiting the country home of William Morris,
founder of the English Arts and Crafts movement, Frederick Evans photographed this
medieval barn in nearby Coxwell, a structure Morris considered “unapproachable in
its dignity” and “as noble as a cathedral.” Built around 1292 for the
Cistercian Abbey of Beaulieu, the barn’s functional design and hand-hewn
beams embodied the artisanal spirit that Morris hoped to rekindle at a time when
the decorative arts were becoming increasingly industrialized. Evans’s
beautifully crafted photographs shared that spirit, as seen when compared to
amateur snapshots inspired by the Kodak slogan “You press the button, we do the
rest.”