THE bygone age of "Cockneys in Arcadia" will be marked with a major new exhibition at Chipping Campden which, one hundred years ago, was the centre of the Arts and Crafts movement.

The venue will be the Court Barn Museum, which is about to enter its tenth anniversary year.

The museum's major celebratory exhibition will showcase the lives and work of the people who brought the Arts and Crafts scene to Chipping Campden, at the start of the 20th century.

Museum curator, Sarah McCormick Healy said: "Charles Robert Ashbee, architect, designer and charismatic leader of the Guild of Handicraft, which he founded in London's East End in 1888, brought the Guild, to the Cotswolds for a simpler, more fulfilling life than the industrialised city could offer.

"Some 50 craftsmen and their families found themselves in a beautiful country setting, a sharp contrast to the East End of London, establishing their workshops in a disused silk mill."

The new exhibition, "Cockneys in Arcadia; C.R. Ashbee in Campden", features Ashbee's Campden years, "displaying the full range of his work as a designer of furniture, metalwork, silver, jewellery and printed books".

The exhibition includes pieces held by private lenders on display for the first time.

The exhibition will run from April 7 to July 9, and is curated by leading experts Alan Crawford and Mary Greensted.

Sarah added: "In February 2017, to start the celebrations we will be displaying objects the museum has acquired since it opened; and 'A Decade of Collecting: Celebrating Ten Years of Acquisitions’ will focus on those objects currently in our archive including pieces of locally made Campden pottery, books illustrated by Paul Woodroffe and a plaque by Alec Miller.

"We are inviting nine people from our volunteers, Friends of the Museum, trustees and staff to choose their favourite piece.

This exhibition will run from Saturday January 28 to Sunday March 26.

The late summer will see "Design: Hand Head Heart," an exhibition celebrating nine contemporary craft people inspired by the Nine Lives featured in the Museum's permanent exhibition.

Sarah said: "These designers are distinguished in their field, and echo the rich heritage established by Ashbee and his Guild in placing great value on work, the joy of craftsmanship and the natural beauty of materials."

This exhibition will run from August 10 to November 19.