The Guild grew from the arrival of Eric Gill to Ditchling, Sussex, in 1907 with his apprentice Joseph Cribb.
[2] Gill left Ditchling for the former Anglican monastery at Capel-y-ffin in 1924, leaving his apprentice Cribb to take over the stone carver's workshop, but the Guild continued to flourish.
The Guild continued to attract many new members – carpenter George Maxwell, weavers Valentine KilBride and Bernard Brocklehurst, and wood-engraver Philip Hagreen.
Its philosophy was encapsulated in what today might be called its mission statement, engraved on a stone plaque, now in The Wilson Museum (Cheltenham).
[4]Men rich in virtue studying beautifulness living in peace in their houses.Its philosophy was based on Roman Catholicism and, in particular, the Distributist ideas of G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc.
and eventually printing when he moved to Ditchling in 1916 to set up the St Dominic's Press, using a traditional handpress in preference to a more automated device.
His insistence on employing a non-Catholic assistant led to his acrimonious departure in 1934, his printing business continuing under the name The Ditchling Press.
He was born in Bristol, studied at the Slade School of Fine Art from 1912, and later became friends with Stanley Spencer.
Having been drawn to Catholicism during the war, he was introduced to Ditchling by Fr John O'Connor (a friend of G. K. Chesterton), where he set about learning wood engraving.
He produced some remarkable murals for the Guild chapel; in particular, the painting of Christ being mocked by soldiers attired as English Tommies reveals something of the scars left by his wartime experience.
Maxwell was devoted to the Distributist ideal, building his own house, maintaining his own smallholding as well as writing polemical essays on the movement.
(1897–1982) Member of the Guild 1926–1981 – weaver Disillusioned with life as an industrial worker, Kilbride was attracted to the world of crafts and began to teach himself the art of traditional weaving in 1920.
His lasting contribution was to pioneer the revival of gothic style liturgical vestments, designed in a conical shape.
His book Silversmithing was printed by St Dominic's Press and became the foundation for his part-time teaching career at Brighton Art College.
He fulfilled hundreds of commissions for ecclesiastical metalwork and in addition to working in silver and gold he made carvings in ivory.
(1914–2008) Member of the Guild 1950–1988 – painter, graphic designer, engraver, and print-maker Edgar Holloway first came to Ditchling in 1948 with an established reputation for drawing and printmaking.
For the next twenty years, he turned away from engraving and concentrated on graphic design, continuing the tradition of fine hand-drawn lettering established by Gill and Johnston.