Webb was one of the founding members of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. and made a significant practical contribution to the firm. Famously, Webb drew the birds in Morris’ early wallpaper designs, such as Trellis, because Morris felt him to be the superior artist when it came to depicting birds.
SPAB
As Webb and Morris matured and developed their thinking around the design and preservation of traditional craftsmanship, Webb’s architectural experience also came to bear an influence.
The Victorian era saw a flurry of ‘restorations’ to old buildings, usually of a destructive nature and with the individuality and uniqueness of the spaces replaced with an idealised vision of how the space should look.
In 1877, Webb and Morris founded The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), to promote the preservation of the building’s entire history. Today, the organisation still upholds these values and promotes the conservation of historic buildings.