Arts & Crafts and the Great City: Charles Robert Ashbee in Jerusalem

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to bring together art and the city by linking town planning and the Arts & Crafts movement. This association is evident in the theoretical writing and professional practice of the architect Charles Robert Ashbee (1863–1942), whose work is characterized by a blend of tradition and innovation. Ashbee, a prominent artist, served as a British town planner in Jerusalem, assisting its first governor, Sir Ronald Storrs, in laying out the city and providing services for its inhabitants. In Jerusalem, Ashbee received his only chance to realize his artistic urban Utopia. The paper discusses Ashbee as a town planner and explores his artistic urban ideal, revealing his comprehensive appreciation of the city and its constituent artistic and social traits, and his combination of the modern requirements of a growing city with traditional artistic ideals. This was the basis of Ashbee’s work in Jerusalem and determined many of its results. In many ways, Ashbee’s ideas still guide the development of Jerusalem to this day, embodying a unique contribution of the Arts & Crafts movement to modern town planning.

Acknowledgement

The article is based on an MA thesis written for the Department of Geography of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The author is deeply indebted to her teachers, Prof. Yehoshua Ben‐Aryeh and Prof. Ronnie Ellenblum, who assisted greatly both in Israel and abroad. The author would also like to thank the hosts in Cambridge, Prof. Gareth Stedman‐Jones of the Centre for Economic and Historical Studies, and the librarians at the Modern Archives, King’s College, Cambridge, who helped in the research. Thanks must also go to the Israel Antiquities Authority Archive for kindly allowing use of the Mandate documents and, finally, to the Cherrick Foundation of the Hebrew University, which made all this possible by a generous grant.

Notes

1. Reconstruction in Jerusalem, The Times (February 5, 1919).

2. Ashbee’s biography, A. Crawford, C. R. Ashbee: Architect, Designer & Romantic Socialist. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1985; also see: P. Davey, Arts and Crafts and Architecture: The Search for Earthly Paradise. London: The Architectural Press, 1980; L. Lambourne, Utopian Craftsmen: The Arts and Crafts Movement from the Cotswolds to Chicago. London: Astragal Books, 1980; F. MacCarthy, The Simple Life: C. R. Ashbee in the Cotswolds. London: Lund Humphries, 1981; G. Naylor, The Arts and Crafts Movement: A Study of its Sources, Ideals and Influence on Design Theory. London: Trefoil Publications, 1990.

3. Published in Campden by Essex House Press.

4. C. R. Ashbee, Where the Great City Stands: A Study in the New Civics. London: Essex House Press, 1917.

5. C. R. Ashbee, Should We Stop Teaching Art?. London: B. T. Batsford, 1911, p. 2.

6. N. Pevsner, William Morris, C. R. Ashbee and the Twentieth Century, The Manchester Review (Summer 1956) 436–55, originally published in the Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Geitesgeschichte, 1936; N. Pevsner, Pioneers of Modern Design: from William Morris to Walter Gropius. Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1960, first published by Faber and Faber under the title Pioneers of the Modern Movement (1936).

7. P. Stansky, William Morris, C. R. Ashbee and the Arts and Crafts. Manor Farm, Gloucs.: The Nine Elms Press, printed by the Whittington Press, 1984, p. 7; P. Davey, op. cit. [2], p. 139; L. Lambourne, op. cit. [2], p. 143; F. MacCarthy, op. cit. [2], p. 183; G. Naylor, op. cit. [2], p. 171.

8. See, for example, the entry from 18.11.1900, quoted in Ashbee’s Memoirs, vol. I, unpublished typescript, King’s College Modern Archives, Cambridge.

9. C. R. Ashbee, introduction to Frank Lloyd Wright: Ausgeführte Bauten und Entwürfe. [Originally published by Wasmuth, Berlin, 1911, in Frank Lloyd Wright, Early Visions: The Complete Frank Lloyd Wright: Ausgeführte Bauten of 1911], Chicago, 1911, New York: Gramercy Books, 1995, pp. 4–5. See also A. Crawford, Ten Letters from Frank Lloyd Wright to Charles Robert Ashbee. Architectural History 13 (1970) 64–76.

10. L. Lambourne, op. cit. [2], p. 143; G. Naylor, op. cit. [2], pp. 171–2.

11. C. R. Ashbee, An Endeavour towards the Teaching of John Ruskin and William Morris, Being an Account of the Work and Aims of the Guild of Handicraft. London: [The Guild and School of Handicraft], Essex House Press, 1901, pp. 46–7.

12. W. Kaplan (ed.)., Encyclopedia of the Arts and Crafts: The International Arts Movement 1850–1920. London: Grange Books, 1998.

13. C. R. Ashbee, op. cit. [11], p. 24.

14. C. R. Ashbee, A Few Chapters in Workshop Re‐Construction and Citizenship. London: The Guild and School of Handicraft, 1894, p. 120.

15. Ibid., p. 118.

16. C. R. Ashbee, American Sheaves and English Seed Corn: Being a Series of Addresses Mainly Delivered in the United States, 1900–1901. London: The Guild and School of Handicraft, Essex House Press, 1901; C. R. Ashbee, A Report by Mr. C. R. Ashbee to the Council of the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest and Natural Beauty on his Visit to the United States in the Council’s Behalf: October 1900 to February 1901. Campden: Essex House Press, 1901.

17. C. R. Ashbee, A Survey of English‐Speaking Universities, Being a Report, Together with an Introductory Essay, on the Architectural Significance of Modern University Development, Prepared for the Hungarian Ministry of Education, 1912. Unpublished typescript, King’s College Modern Archives, Cambridge.

18. University Hall of Residence & Crosby Hall, Chelsea (Officially Recognised by the University of London), Warden: Professor Patrick Geddes, Visitor: the Principal of the University of London, the University and City Associates of London Ltd., [Directors: James Martin White, Sir Thomas Barclay, N. P. W. Brady, Sir William Henry Dunn, Professor Patrick Geddes, Thomas Waterman Hellyer, George Montagu, R. C. Norman, secretary: John Ross, 2, More’s Garden, Chelsea, S. W.] [1910?] pp. 1–7. See also A. Crawford, op. cit. [2] pp. 160–1.

19. C.R. Ashbee, op. cit. [5], p. 2.

20. Ibid., pp. 32–4, 100–3.

21. C. R. Ashbee, The Arts and Crafts Exhibition: Its Civic and Educational Aspects. Sociological Review 9 (1916–17) 53.

22. C.R. Ashbee, op. cit. [4], p. 57.

23. Ibid., p. 13.

24. Ibid., p. 6.

25. Ibid., p. 1.

26. Ibid., Axiom no. 7, p. 3.

27. Ibid., pp. 57–8.

28. Ibid., pp. 100–6.

29. See, for example, P. Geddes, The Survey of Cities, The Sociological Review I (1908) 74–9, where Geddes mentions the establishment of a ‘Cities Committee to promote the Survey and Investigation of Cities’. A thorough survey‐before‐planning had already been carried out by Geddes in 1904 during the planning of Dunfermline; see his City Development: A Study of Parks, Gardens, and Culture Institute, A Report to the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust. Edinburgh: Geddes and Company, Outlook Tower, and Bournville, Birmingham: The Saint George Press, 1904. The theme had been further developed by Geddes in a series of lectures entitled The City Survey, Garden Cities and Town Planning 1 (February 1911) no. 1, pp. 18–19; no. 2, pp. 31–3; no. 3, pp.56–8. It had become a well‐regarded practice and was incorporated in many planning articles and manuals written at the time. See, for example, R. Unwin, Town Planning in Practice: An Introduction to the Art of Designing Cities and Suburbs. London: Ernest Benn, 1909.

30. C. R. Ashbee, op. cit. [4], pp. 116–20.

31. Such was Geddes’ long‐lasting work at the Outlook Tower, described by Charles Zueblin: The World’s First Sociological Laboratory, The American Journal of Sociology IV (1899) 577–92; see also P. Geddes, City Development …, op. cit. [29]; P. Geddes, A Suggested Plan for a Civic Museum (or Civic Exhibition) and its Associated Studies, Sociological Papers. London: Macmillan & Co., 1907, pp. 197–236.

32. C. R. Ashbee, op. cit. [4], p. 59, referring here to an ideal urban setting described earlier in his book The Building of Thelema. London: J. Dent, 1910.

33. C. R. Ashbee, op. cit. [4], pp. 114–26.

34. Ibid., pp. 68–73. A great contribution to this subject has been made by Unwin, see R. Unwin, op. cit. [29].

35. C. R. Ashbee, op. cit. [4], p. 60.

36. Ibid., p. 82.

37. Ibid., pp. 21–8.

38. Ibid., pp. 139–50.

39. C. R. Ashbee, The Survey of London: Being the First Volume of the Register of the Committee for the Survey of the Memorials of Greater London, Containing the Parish of Bromley‐By‐Bow, edited by C. R. Ashbee from the Material Collected by Members of the Survey Committee and Printed under the Auspices of the London County Council. London: P. S. King and Son, 1900.

40. Ibid., p. xxviii.

41. C. R. Ashbee, The Trinity Hospital in Mile End: An object lesson in national history. London: The Guild & School of Handicraft, 1896. See also A. Crawford, op. cit. [2], pp. 61–3.

42. C. R. Ashbee, On the Dromenagh Estate at Iver Heath. The Studio 36 (1906) 47–52.

43. Ibid., p. 47.

44. See G. Pepler, Town Planning Powers under the Housing, Town Planning etc., Act, 1909. Garden Cities and Town Planning 2, 1 (January 1912) pp. 4–10; W. Ashworth, The Genesis of Modern British Town Planning : A Study in [the] Economic and Social History of the Nineteenth Century. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1954, p. 167; H. Meller, Towns, Plans and Society in Modern Britain. New Studies in Economic and Social History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

45. See: Ruislip Manor, Garden Cities and Town Planning 1 (April 1911) 63 for the winning plan; The Ruislip Manor Competition: A Study in Comparative Town Planning. Town Planning and Housing, Supplement to the Architectural Review 29 (1911) 171–9; A. W. Thompson, Ruislip Manor Town Planning Scheme. Garden Cities and Town Planning 3, 1 (1913) 7–15; The Ruislip‐Northwood and Ruislip‐Manor Joint Town Planning Scheme. Town Planning Review 4, 2 (1913–14) 133–44. See also A. Crawford, op. cit. [2], pp. 155–6.

46. ‘Mr. Ashbee, in a well thought report that accompanied his plans, claimed that the historic and natural traits of the site must determine its shaping …’. The Ruislip Manor Competition, ibid., p.179; See also A. Crawford, op. cit. [2], pp. 178–9.

47. J. Nolen, Greater Dublin. Garden Cities and Town Planning 7, 1 (January 1917) 8–9; H. Meller, Patrick Geddes: Social Evolutionist and City Planner. New Studies in Economic and Social History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp. 183–90. All that remains of the plan submitted by Ashbee and his partner, G. H. Chettle, are two copies of a 72‐page report, including some 100 partial drawings. These are to be found at Dublin University and at Cornell University. Except for a few notes in his diaries of the time, there is no other documentation of Ashbee’s work in Dublin. My analysis of the plans are based on a detailed article describing the report: M. J. Bannon, Dublin Town Planning Competition: Ashbee and Chettle’s “New Dublin”: A Study in Civics. Planning Perspectives 14 (1999) 145–62. This is perhaps the only article dealing with Ashbee in relation to town planning.

48. Ibid., p. 145: ‘Had circumstances not prevented its completion, the author of the premeditated design might have found in this a more serious competitor’.

49. Quoted in Ashbee’s Memoirs, op. cit. [8], vol. V.

50. A draft of the report is included in Ashbee’s Journals, 1919, King’s College Modern Archives, Cambridge; a synopsis is included in his book, Palestine Notebook 1918–1923. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page and Company, 1924, which eventually became the first volume of his memoirs.

51. Ashbee’s Egyptian impressions are recorded in The Kings of Min Zaman. London: [s.n.], 1938.

52. British activity in Jerusalem is described well by Storrs in his memoirs: R. Storrs, Orientations. London: Nicholson & Watson, 1945 [1939].

53. G. Bigger, British and Jewish Policy and Action in the Development of Jerusalem between 1918–1925. MA thesis, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1974 [in Hebrew]; N. Shepherd, Ploughing Sand: British Rule in Palestine 1917–1948. London: John Murray, 2000.

54. W. McLean, City of Jerusalem: Town Planning Scheme. Explanatory Note. Jerusalem Municipal Historic Archives, Ashbee files. For criticism, see, for example: H. V. Lanchester, Mr. McLean’s Plan Revised. The Observer (July 12, 1919).

55. R. Storrs, preface to C. R. Ashbee (ed.), Jerusalem 1918–1920, Being the Records of the Pro‐Jerusalem Council during the Period of the British Military Administration. (Ashbee, PJS vol. I.) London: John Murray, 1921, p. vi.

56. R. Storrs, preface to C. R. Ashbee (ed.), Jerusalem 1920–1922, Being the Records of the Pro‐Jerusalem Council during the First Two Years of the Civil Administration. (Ashbee, PJS vol. II.) London: John Murray, 1924, p. vi.

57. R. Storrs, op. cit. [52] p. 312. Storrs knew Ashbee already, as he mentions an interesting lecture he had heard from him in the past.

58. Letter, Ashbee to his wife, June, 1918, quoted in Ashbee’s Journals, op. cit. [50].

59. Among the sources describing Ashbee’s activities in Jerusalem and dealing mainly with his basic plan for the city are H. Kendall, Jerusalem the City Plan: Preservation and Development during the British Mandate, 1917–1948. London: His Majesty’s Stationery Press Office, 1948; M. Levine, Ashbee’s Enterprise in Jerusalem, in Eli Schiller (ed.) Sefer Zeev Vilnai. Jerusalem: Ariel Publishers, 1987, vol. 2, pp. 76–82 [in Hebrew]; B. Hyman, British Planners in Palestine (PhD dissertation, London School of Economics) 1994; Y. Ben‐Arieh, The Planning and Conservation of Jerusalem during the Mandate Period in Israel 1917–1926: A Land Reflected in Its Past. Studies in [the] Historical Geography of Israel, R. Aaronsohn and H. Lavsky (eds). Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Yad Ben‐Zvi Press, 2001, pp. 441–93 [in Hebrew]. Ashbee recorded his own impressions of this era in Palestine Notebook, op. cit. [50].

60. Listed in Ashbee, PJS vol. I, op. cit. [55], p. vii. Ashbee claimed that the Society’s charter was modelled upon the British National Trust. C.R. Ashbee, Palestine Notebook, op. cit. [50], p. 139. As advisor, Ashbee had no legal authority and his actions in Jerusalem must be seen in relation to the actions of the Society itself. Ashbee recorded these in two volumes, PJS vol. 1, op. cit. [55] and vol. 2, op. cit. [56].

61. Report by Mr. C. R. Ashbee on the Arts and Crafts of Jerusalem and District. August 1918. Jerusalem Municipal Historic Archives, Ashbee’s files.

62. Ibid., p. 3.

63. R. Storrs, op. cit. [52], p. 325; Ashbee, PJS vol. I, op. cit. [55], pp. 31–2.

64. Ashbee, PJS vol. 1, op. cit. [55], pp. 29–31; vol. 2, op. cit. [56], p. 31; R. Storrs, ibid., p. 314. A lively description of this workshop is supplied by Ashbee’s daughter, who grew up in Jerusalem and recorded its life: F. J. Ashbee, Janet Ashbee: Love, Marriage, and the Arts and Crafts Movement. New York: Syracuse University Press, 2002, pp. 175–80.

65. The Pro‐Jerusalem Society Quarterly Bulletin, June 1922, Antiquities Authority Archive, box 3 file atq 672/1; Ashbee, PJS vol. I, op. cit. [55], p. 34; vol. II, op. cit. [55], pp. 29–30; R. Storrs, ibid., pp. 314–16.

66. Civic Advisor’s Report on Hebron Glass Industry. October 1921, Antiquities Authority Archive, Box 3, file atq 672/1; C. R. Ashbee, A Brief Description of the Work Done by the Local Craftsmen at Government House, in Ashbee, PJS vol. II, op. cit. [56], pp. 60–3.

67. Do’ar Hayom (April 9, 1921); Ha’aretz (April 15, 1921) [in Hebrew], Central Zionist Archives, file L18 75/5.

68. Exhibition of Palestine Crafts and Industries (Catalogue). Jerusalem, 1922.

69. Ashbee, PJS vol. II, op. cit. [56], p. 5.

70. Ashbee, PJS vol. I, op. cit. [55], pp. 16–18. Separate articles describing the documentation and conservation done by experts are attached to both volumes.

71. Storrs’ Archives, Pembroke College, Cambridge, Jerusalem File 1920–1921; R. Storrs, op. cit. [52], pp. 310–11; correspondence in the Antiquities Authority Archives, file atq/1625.

72. Ashbee, PJS vol. I, op. cit. [55], pp. 2–4; vol. II, op. cit. [56], pp. 4–12; Antiquities Authority Archives, Box 3 file atq 670/1.

73. Ashbee, The Pro‐Jerusalem Society, op. cit. [65].

74. Jerusalem Municipal Historic Archives, Ashbee files; Ashbee’s Jerusalem Papers, private archive, Felicity Ashbee, London.

75. Ashbee, PJS vol. I, op. cit. [55], pp. 5–8; vol. II, op. cit. [56], pp. 21–5.

76. Pictures and plans are scattered among Ashbee’s files in the Jerusalem Municipal Historic Archives, the Pro‐Jerusalem Society official volumes and the Antiquities Authority files; some are in Ashbee’s private Jerusalem files kept by his daughter Felicity Ashbee, in London.

77. P. Geddes, Jerusalem Actual and Possible, A Preliminary Report to the Chief Administrator of Palestine and the Military Governor of Jerusalem on Town Planning and City Improvements [by Patrick Geddes, Director of the City and Town Planning Exhibition, Professor of Sociology and Civics, University of Bombay] November 1919. Central Zionist Archives, file Z4/10.202. See also H. Meller, op. cit. [47], p. 229.

78. Geddes and Ashbee commented on the Ordinance: Note on the Revised Draft of the Town Planning Ordinance, July 1920, Central Zionist Archives file L18 50/5; C. R. Ashbee, Jerusalem Betterment and Town Plan 1920, Central Zionist Archives file L18 78/5.

79. C. R. Ashbee, Recommendations to the Central Town Planning Commission, 4 April 1921, Israel State Archives, box 1659 file 103/1.

80. Central Town Planning Committee, July 1921, Israel State Archives box 103/1 file 1659. Ashbee, PJS vol. II, op. cit. [56], pp. 15–19.

81. For a thorough analysis of the plans see B. Hyman, op. cit. [59].

82. P. Geddes, op. cit. [77], p. 20.

83. Storrs’ Archives, Pembroke College, Cambridge, Jerusalem File 1921–1922; see also his correspondence with Zionist authorities, May to December 1921, Central Zionist Archives, file L 78/5.

84. Saving the Countryside. Artwork 20 (Winter 1929) 278–83; The Palestine Problem. The English Review 38 (January–June 1924) 805–7; Deadlock in Palestine. Asia 35 (August 1935) 453–7; The Palestine Problem Reviewed after Ten Years. The English Review 61 (1935) 529–39.

85. A. Crawford points out this similarity too (op. cit. [2], p. 168).

86. P. Davey, op. cit. [2], pp. 139–45; W. Morris, News from Nowhere, or: An Epoch of Rest, [serialized in the Commonweal, 11 January–4 October 1890, published in book form and revised, Boston 1890, London 1891] in William Morris, News from Nowhere and Other Writings, Clive Wilmer (ed.), Bungay: Penguin Books, 1993, pp. 41–230. Davey mentions Ashbee together with William Richard Lethaby as two exceptional Arts & Crafts artists for their work in the city.

87. C.R. Ashbee, Craftsmanship in Competitive Industry: Being a Record of the Workshops of the Guild of Handicraft, and Some Deductions from their Twenty‐One Years’ Experience Craftsmanship in Competitive Industry. Campden: Essex House Press, 1908, p. 5.

88. W. Kaplan, op. cit. [12], p. 11.

89. See, for example, a review in The Times (February 15, 1918). For a detailed discussion of Ashbee’s urban work and accomplishments in Jerusalem see N. Hysler‐Rubin, Charles Robert Ashbee: His Urban Thought and its Implications in Jerusalem 1918–1922 (MA thesis, Hebrew University of Jerusalem), 2000 [in Hebrew].

90. C. R. Ashbee, op. cit. [4], p. 2.

91. C. R. Ashbee, Palestine Notebook, op. cit. [50], p. vii.

92. See also N. Shepherd, op. cit. [53]; Daniel Monk, An Aesthetic Occupation: The Immediacy of Architecture and the Palestine Conflict. Durham, N.C.; London: Duke University Press, 2002.

93. After L. Lambourne, op. cit. [2], p. 141.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Noah Hysler‐Rubin

Noah Hysler‐Rubin is a PhD candidate at the Geography department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Her thesis examines the historiography of Patrick Geddes and proposes a new framework for the analysis of his urban plan and its manifestations in India and in Palestine, constituting a critical investigation of the emerging practice of modern town planning and its expressions throughout the British Empire. She is a trained town planner and historical geographer whose interests include the history and theory of urban planning, British town‐planning in the colonies and postcolonial geographies in Britain and in India. She is currently (2006) affiliated to Queen Mary, University of London as a visiting research student.