Wallpaper has left a fascinating artistic legacy, with some of the most beautiful and elaborate patterns used by a wallpaper specialist to add a unique style and mood to a room.

The history of wallpaper is rather unique, as ornate wallpaper styles only became a must-have luxury in the Victorian era, with the art form unfairly compared to the more popular tapestries of the day despite the greatest versatility in design.

For 124 years it looked like the art of paper wall decoration might disappear entirely, thanks to a brutal and bizarre property tax that yanked it out of the hands of working people.

The story starts with Queen Anne, reigning monarch of Great Britain for eight years from 1702 to 1714. After an expensive War of the Spanish Succession drained the country’s finances, the Excise Office turned to a new, flourishing industry that could provide a revenue stream for the Crown.

According to the tax, first imposed on the industry in 1712, all papers that were printed, stained or painted for use as a wall hanging were taxed at a rate of one old pence per square yard (around £3.71 adjusted for inflation and converted to decimal).

This changed how wallpaper was fundamentally used in the UK, as the increased prices put wallpaper prints out of the hands of many poorer households who had used them as a tapestry-like decoration.

That was, at least, until it turned out there was a gigantic loophole in the law. As it only applied to painted, stained or printed papers that were then hung on a wall, if you bought plain paper and had it stencilled or painted by a builder whilst they were on-site, it got around the tax.

However, this did fundamentally change wallpaper in what was now Great Britain by forcing some designers to simplify their designs into stencils, whilst others raised their prices and focused on the middle and upper classes, who themselves were drawn to French and later Chinese wallpaper styles.

The tax remained in effect until 1836, the year before Queen Victoria rose to power, and its repeal, combined with the mass production innovations of the Industrial Revolution, led to a golden age in wallpaper design.