Roses & Castles - A short history of canal folk art

Roses & Castles is a colourful and decorative painting style used to adorn almost every surface of narrowboats and their contents which was likely developed in the 1850s. Traditionally painted using a limited colour pallet of reds, blues, yellows, greens, black and white. This painting tradition is still going strong and can be seen on the outside and inside of narrowboats, functional and decorative objects and souvenirs today.

Characteristics include stylised roses and other floral motifs used in repeating decorative sections and borders. As well as castles, these romantic scenes can also depict other landscape elements including churches, cottages, bridges, rivers and lakes. Typography elements include identifying symbols of the boat, such as the owner or the location, in serif fonts typical of Victorian-type styles. Stripes, harlequin and colour block elements are also used to connect the decorative sections together, providing total colour or pattern coverage. These elements range in appearance from detailed to very stylised depending on the painters personal style, ability and location.

There is no definitive origin for the Roses & Castles painting style but there are lots of theories and probable influences.

The development of the railways made moving goods via the waterways less profitable. Families moved onboard the canal boats and needed to greatly reduce their possessions to live within the tiny cabin. There wouldn't have been space for anything that wasn't functional. During the early and mid-19th century, household objects, textiles and stationery were very decorative. One idea about the origins of Roses & Castles is that these families wanted to show pride and care for their vessels and retain some of that decoration without taking up valuable space, so painted the decorations directly on to the boat and its contents, taking influences from the patterned objects of the time period.

The style endured and evolved over time. The varying skill of the boat painters, time constraints, practicalities, and limited access to paint supplies all helped to simplify and shape the decorative style into what we recognise today. Sadly there are few examples remaining from the styles heyday as every object had to be functional and used until the end of its life. With advances in technology and computerised type the tradition fell into decline in the 1980s but interest and demand for traditional signwriting and decoration is increasing again.

With a background in textile and pattern design I find decorative styles very interesting and particularly love the stories and histories behind folk art. I love to look at the characteristics of different styles and work with them to create my own version. Roses & Castles is so decorative and adaptable having been applied to so many different objects and surfaces, I felt it lent itself really well to a papergoods collection. I hope I’ve stayed true to the orignal style for it to be recognisable while putting my own spin on it. It’s a celebration of this traditional folk art style - I love that popular textile patterns and stationery at the time would have influenced its creation and that, in turn, the style now inspires these products today!

Sources of information and further reading:

Canal and River Trust - Roses & Castles article

Narrow Boat Info - Rose & Castles

The Museum of Thin Objects - A Brief History of Roses & Castles

Crusing the Cut - Youtube channel, episode 289

Painted Canal Wear - Scribe Signwriting