Hidden Roehampton Treasure Set to Be Displayed
Reredos based on William Morris design might be included in major exhibition
Parkstead House. Picture: Putney Society
July 10, 2026
Deep inside Parkstead House — the Grade I listed centrepiece of the University of Roehampton — lies one of Roehampton’s most remarkable but least-seen Victorian artworks: a gilded reredos created by Kate Faulkner from a design by William Morris. For decades it has remained tucked away in Whitelands College’s former chapel, admired only by those with reason to visit. Now, for the first time, it may be on the verge of a far wider audience according to the Putney Society.
The University of Roehampton has confirmed it is in discussions with the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge about loaning the reredos as a centrepiece of A Call to Art: William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites, a major exhibition running from 23 October 2026 to 3 May 2027. If approved, the loan would bring tens of thousands of visitors face-to-face with an object that has long been hidden from public view.
Commissioned in 1886, the screen is an extraordinary example of late-Victorian craftsmanship. Carved in oak as a rectangular trellis, its panels are alive with curling foliage, while four bear the symbolic creatures of the Evangelists. At its centre sit two panels depicting arrows associated with St Ursula, Whitelands College’s patron saint. Above them runs the Latin inscription hoc facite in meam commemorationem — “Do this in remembrance of me.” Faulkner treated the entire surface with silver and then gold so that, as she wrote, every part “catches the light.”
Yet despite its brilliance, Faulkner’s authorship has often been overshadowed. A key figure in the Morris circle, her work has frequently been attributed simply to Morris himself, a pattern that has obscured her role in the Arts and Crafts movement. The Fitzwilliam exhibition offers a rare opportunity to restore her place in the story and to present the reredos not only as a Morris design but as a testament to Faulkner’s own artistry.
Before the loan can proceed, the university must secure Listed Building Consent and planning permission, given the chapel’s protected status. An application (2026/2316) to move the piece has been submitted by Whitelands College to Wandsworth Council. If successful, one of Roehampton’s most significant hidden treasures will finally step into the national spotlight — and a long-overlooked artist may at last receive her due.
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