 Having passed his finals and been awarded a BA , Morris began an apprenticeship with the Oxford @-@ based Neo @-@ Gothic architect George Edmund Street in January 1856 . His apprenticeship focused on architectural drawing , and there he was placed under the supervision of the young architect Philip Webb , who became a close friend . Morris soon relocated to Street 's London office , in August 1856 moving into a flat in Bloomsbury , Central London with Burne @-@ Jones , an area perhaps chosen for its avant @-@ garde associations . Morris was fascinated by London but dismayed at its pollution and rapid expansion into neighbouring countryside , describing it as " the spreading sore " . 
