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Heritage craft workshops for families and young people

The South West Heritage Trust is teaming up with MAKE Southwest, the Heritage Craft Association and D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust to provide opportunities for children and young people to experience heritage crafts, some of which are at risk of dying out.

The Heritage Crafts Red List is produced annually by the Heritage Craft Association to assess the viability of traditional crafts. Amongst the crafts considered ‘endangered’ are brick making, hurdle making and hewing. These activities and more, will feature in free workshops taking place at museums across Somerset and at MAKE Southwest in Devon, to encourage the next generation to take part.

Laura Wasley, MAKE Southwest CEO, said: “We are really excited to be working with Heritage Craft Association and South West Heritage Trust on delivering these free workshops. This will give young people a chance to connect and learn an endangered craft skill, working with old tools and techniques. A huge thank you to the D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust for their support.”

Susie Simmons, Operations Manager, South West Heritage Trust Museums said: “We’re delighted to be providing an opportunity for children and young people to learn about these traditional crafts that make up an important part of our rural heritage.”

On Monday, February 17, young people (aged 14-23 years) are invited to a Woodworking Workshop at Avalon Archaeology, Glastonbury, where they can discover woodworking techniques through time. Participants will use flint, bronze and steel tools to experience how people made wooden objects, from the Stone Age to the Saxons.

Amongst the crafts being taught is hurdle making. Evidence of these woven wooden panels has been found on the Somerset Levels, where they were used by Neolithic ancestors. Participants will also try hewing; the process of shaping a log to create flat surfaces using only hand tools.

On Saturday, March 8, families are invited to come along to a free Rag Rug Workshop at Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury, where they can learn about the history, how rugs were made, and have a go. The tradition of making rag rugs became widespread during the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century.

However, by the 1920s the craft was dying. The necessity for thrift during World War II brought a brief revival and interest in the craft grew again in the 1980s. It remains a sustainable lifestyle activity, practised by many amateurs who enjoy making things, and a few professional rug makers.

On Saturday, March 22, families are invited to attend a free Brick Making Workshop at Somerset Brick and Tile Museum, Bridgwater, where they can learn about this aspect to Somerset’s industrial heritage and have a go. The making of clay bricks by hand or in small batches is now an endangered craft.

For nearly 200 years, brick kilns flourished across Somerset, fuelled by the Industrial Revolution. Bridgwater’s transport links helped make it a centre of production. The decline of the brick and tile industry began with World War I and it was all but over by the 1960s. The kiln at Somerset Brick and Tile Museum was last fired in 1965 and the last brickworks in the county closed in Wellington in 1996.

The Heritage Craft Workshops have been organised by a partnership of the South West Heritage Trust (which runs the museums), MAKE Southwest, Heritage Craft Association and is funded by D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust. All children and young people must be accompanied by an adult. Workshops are FREE to attend, with a refundable deposit required for booking. Booking required via swheritage.org.uk

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