He was influenced by anarchism in the 1880s and became a committed revolutionary socialist activist. In 1877, he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings to campaign against the damage caused by architectural restoration. He also achieved success with the publication of his epic poems and novels, namely The Earthly Paradise (1868–1870), A Dream of John Ball (1888), the Utopian News from Nowhere (1890), and the fantasy romance The Well at the World's End (1896). He was greatly influenced by visits to Iceland with Eiríkur Magnússon, and he produced a series of English-language translations of Icelandic Sagas. Morris rented the rural retreat of Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire, from 1871 while also retaining a main home in London. In 1875, he assumed total control of the company, which was renamed Morris & Co. The firm profoundly influenced interior decoration throughout the Victorian period, with Morris designing tapestries, wallpaper, fabrics, furniture, and stained glass windows. decorative arts firm with Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, and others, which became highly fashionable and much in demand. In 1861, Morris founded the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. Webb and Morris designed Red House in Kent where Morris lived from 1859 to 1865, before moving to Bloomsbury, central London.

After university, he married Jane Burden, and developed close friendships with Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and with Neo-Gothic architect Philip Webb.

He came under the strong influence of medievalism while studying Classics at Oxford University, there joining the Birmingham Set. Morris was born in Walthamstow, Essex, to a wealthy middle-class family. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he helped win acceptance of socialism in fin de siècle Great Britain. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, fantasy writer, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement.

Workshop wallpaper