Heritage Crafts Weekend returns to Weald & Downland Living Museum

Weald & Downland Living Museum is thrilled to announce the return of a special weekend dedicated to exploring and preserving heritage crafts and skills from the past.

Taking place on September 14-15, Made By Hand is a unique event that aims to celebrate the many heritage crafts at risk of being lost forever and offers visitors an engaging way to learn about conserving these invaluable skills for future generations.

Event Highlights

Over the weekend, the museum’s extensive grounds will come alive with demonstrations of numerous rural crafts and skills practiced by museum experts and members of the Heritage Craft Association. This event will also feature crafts from the Red List of Historic Endangered Crafts, providing a rare opportunity to witness these time-honoured techniques first-hand.

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Made By Hand at Weald & Downland Living Museum.placeholder image
Made By Hand at Weald & Downland Living Museum.

In addition, the museum will be welcoming back the Black Knights Historical Group who will take up residence in the Medieval House from Hangleton, part of the museum's historic building collection. They will demonstrate historic net making, along with showcasing the art of incunabula, printing, and bookbinding techniques from the mid-1400s to the 1600s.

Visiting craftspeople over the weekend include:

  • Jo Munford (Seaview Studio) - Demonstrating traditional and modern techniques of painted and leaded stained glass.
  • Adrian Warrell (The History Man) - Showcasing the historic making and repairing of tin items.
Made By Hand at Weald & Downland Living Museum.placeholder image
Made By Hand at Weald & Downland Living Museum.
  • Wayne Osbourne Signs - Exhibiting traditional hand-painted sign writing.
  • Jackie Smith (The Toymakers Guild) - Displaying traditional teddy bear making and repair demonstrations.
  • Penney Maltby - Demonstrating straw marquetry, spiral plaiting, and hat plaiting.
  • Jeremy Atkinson - Showing bespoke clog making.
Made By Hand at Weald & Downland Living Museum.placeholder image
Made By Hand at Weald & Downland Living Museum.
  • Paul Henry (Paul Henry Kilts) - Demonstrating the transformation of woollen cloth into perfectly tailored garments.
  • Catherine Beaumont (The Basketmaker’s Association) - Making baskets using locally sourced willow and coppice materials.

Other crafts include historical chair making, woodcarving, printing techniques, traditional spinning, and stone letter carving.

Interactive Activities for Children

Made By Hand at Weald & Downland Living Museum.placeholder image
Made By Hand at Weald & Downland Living Museum.

Ideal for all the family, children can join in with the Mini Makers’ activities in Hambrook Barn, where Artist and Potter Gill Hunter Nudds will guide young visitors in making traditional pinch pots from clay and creating leafy prints on fabric.

Educational Opportunities

Visitors will have the chance to speak with the museum’s educational team and learn about traditional trades and crafts courses available at the museum. Whether looking to learn a new skill or take up a new hobby, there is a wide array of short courses available throughout the year. Representatives from the Heritage Crafts Association will also be onsite to discuss how they support and safeguard traditional craft skills to ensure a sustainable future.

Heritage Craft Celebrations

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To continue the celebration of heritage crafts, a new exhibition will be opening that same weekend in the museum’s Longport Gallery.

Curated in partnership with the Heritage Crafts Association (HCA), the exhibition will explore a range of traditional trade crafts which were once a common sight in towns and villages but are now very rarely seen at all. Many of the crafts featured are deemed ‘At Risk’ by the HCA. The exhibition will run until December 20.

To find out more and book tickets visit - https://www.wealddown.co.uk/events/made-by-hand-heritage-crafts/

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