14th August 2026
6 people, 4 hour workshop, £70pp
Join Artist Maddy Molyneux for a relaxing introduction to the traditional craft of spoon carving. Using hand tools and sustainably sourced wood, you'll be guided through the process of shaping and carving your own wooden spoon to take home. This rewarding workshop offers an introduction to green woodworking techniques and is suitable for complete beginners.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
4 hour workshop, 10:30am - 2:30pm
Beginner friendly.
Suitable for ages 14+. Participants under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
All materials and tools provided.
Please note that sharp carving tools will be used throughout the workshop.
12th August 2026
6 people, 4 hour workshop, £70pp
Join Artist Maddy Molyneux and create your own willow obelisk or plant support using traditional weaving techniques. Perfect for supporting climbing plants in the garden, this practical workshop will guide you through working with natural willow to produce a beautiful and functional structure. Participants may have the opportunity to make either one large or one smaller support depending on their chosen design.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
4 hour workshop, 10:30am - 2:30pm
Beginner friendly.
Suitable for ages 14+. Participants under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
All materials and tools provided.
Please note that sharp carving tools will be used throughout the workshop.
10th August 2026
6 people, 4 hour workshop, £80pp
Join natural materials artist Maddy Molyneux and learn how to create your own charming willow chicken using traditional basketry techniques. Working with natural willow, you'll be guided through the process step-by-step to create a decorative sculpture to take home and display in your garden or home.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
4 hour workshop, 10:30am - 2:30pm
Beginner friendly.
Suitable for ages 14+. Participants under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
All materials and tools provided.
Please note that sharp carving tools will be used throughout the workshop.
6th & 7th September 2026,
6 people, 2 days, £200pp
Learn how to craft a three-legged milk maid stool to take home and enjoy!
Skills covered:
How to cleave ash legs using a froe and cleaving break
Fashion a round tenon using a drawknife, shave horse and hole gauge
Learn the process of fixing the legs into the seat using oak wedges
Final process will be to scribe the feet of the legs, so the stool sits true.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Two-day workshop, 10am - 4pm
Beginner friendly.
Course includes all materials and tools
6th & 7th June 2026,
6 people, 2 day, £240pp
Laths and staves are the weavers and vertical uprights which make up the wattle panels of a timber frame building. This one-day workshop will cover the conversion from clean, straight grained oak logs, using froes and brakes to produce radially and tangentially riven lathes and staves. Once made you will experience the fitting of these to form a wattle panel in a pre-made oak frame building.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Two-day workshop, 10am - 4pm
Beginner friendly.
Course includes all materials and tools
5th October 2026,
6 people, 1 day, £80pp
Immerse yourself in a beautiful ancient coppice woodland where you will learn the age-old craft of shingle making. Shingles, also known as shakes, are wooden tiles widely used for covering roofs, especially church spires.
What you’ll learn:
To quarter split oak rounds using wedges and maul
Use of a froe and cleaving break to reduce the quarters into single blanks
Dress the blanks using a drawknife and shave horse to the final form
The process of fixing the shingles to the roof of an oak framed building.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
One day workshop, 10am - 4pm
Beginner friendly.
Course includes all materials and tools
13th – 17th April 2027,
6 people, 5 day, £500pp
This five-day course promises to give an in-depth insight into the world of Anglo-Saxon carpentry. The course will start with a site visit to Butser Ancient Farm to examine the construction of the two Anglo-Saxon long halls based on archaeological evidence from the nearby Church Down hilltop settlement as excavated under the leadership of the British Archaeologist Dr Peter Addyman CBE FSA.
Having designed and constructed the two Saxon long halls at Butser Ancient Farm, Darren has a comprehensive knowledgeof this little-known craft. A ‘hands on’ course covering framelay-ups, insertion scribing, post level and rotation marks-through to the cutting of tusk tenons and their mortices. Usingaxes, drawknives and shave horses, the production of oak treenails and wedges will be demonstrated, and you’ll have the opportunity to ‘have a go’.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Five-day workshop Mon to Fri, 10am - 4pm
Beginner friendly.
Course includes all materials and tools
25th-29th May 2026,
6 people, 5 day, £500pp
This five-day course will immerse you into the delight of mediaeval timber framed construction.
Based at the woodland classroom set in an idyllic seven-acre woodland all aspects of framing will be covered to produce a box frame of a structure to be used as a utility building within the woods.
Working from a scale drawing you’ll learn frame layups, facing of timbers, square rule, rotation and level marks and scribe rule. Then the actual cutting of joints, draw boring and trial assembly.
Using a shave horse and drawknife you’ll get the chance to make oak draw pegs which will be used to fasten the various joints of the box frame.
Time permitting, you’ll have the opportunity to hand convert/hew an oak post from the round. Hewing is currently listed as endangered on the Heritage Crafts Red List.
Throughout the five days there’ll be lots of opportunity for discussion.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Five-day workshop Mon to Fri, 10am - 4pm
It is recommended to attend the Anglo-Saxon Tree Wrighting Workshop prior to attending the Medieval Timber Framing course.
Course includes all materials and tools
4th & 5th July 2026
6 people, 2 day, £150pp
Come and join this one-day course to learn the endangered craft of hay rake making. Set in a beautiful coppice woodland, this experience will take you through the stages involved to produce a handmade rake. All materials i.e. ash and hazel, will be harvested from within the woodland where the course is being held.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Two-day workshop, 10am - 4pm
Beginner friendly.
Course includes all materials and tools
4th October 2026,
6 people, 1 day, £60pp
This one-day workshop will teach you the basic skills and techniques required to make quality spars, a craft that is currently listed as endangered on the Heritage Crafts Red List. You will try different ways of riving using a splitting billhook and a side adze before pointing the spars, an intrinsic component of a quality spar.
Skills covered:
Tour and talk of an ancient wood
Select and coppice suitable hazel rods for spar making
Cut hazel to spar length using a pruning saw
Look at the tools used for splitting hazel, e.g. billhook and side adze
Learn three regional different methods of splitting hazel
The day will finish learning to point spars and twisting. Terminating in a general discussion on the fixings of spars to a thatched roof.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
One day workshop, 10am - 4pm
Beginner friendly
Course includes all materials and tools
27th & 28th September 2026,
6 people, 2 day, £240pp
Come along to this course to learn the ancient craft of hazel wattle hurdling. Listed as endangered on the Heritage Crafts Red List hurdles are the zenith of coppice craft. The course will be led by Darren Hammerton, a champion Hampshire hurdle maker. This two-day course will arm you with the basic skills from splitting hazel rods right through to the final construction.
Skills covered:
Tour and talk of an ancient wood looking at a selection of suitable hazel rods for hurdle making
How a hurdle mould is made and configurated
Learn how to sail up and tie the bottom in
Learn how to split weaving rods using a billhook
Learn how to weave and twist round the end sails
Learn how to tie the top using round rods
Finally, trim your hurdle using loppers!
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Two-day course, 10am - 4pm
Beginner friendly.
https://www.heritagecrafts.org.uk/categories-of risk/
13th September 2026,
6 people, 1 day, £120pp
This one-day woodland visit is aimed at small woodland owners and enthusiasts wishing to broaden their knowledge of coppice management.
Points covered during the day:
History of coppice management through the ages
Learn about the coppice cycle of English hardwoods
Classification systems of woodland stand types
How to age ash and field maple stools
Tree ID
Stocking densities
Propagation of hazel through planting and layering to achieve the required stool density and most importantly maintaining provenance.
Issues of shade from the overstory. The ideal amount of standards per acre
Threats to successful regrowth
Flora and fauna which proliferate as a result of coppicing Traditional hazel products
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
One day workshop
Beginner friendly.
Join us for a hands-on day learning the traditional craft of making natural cordage from wild plants.
Discover how to harvest and process nettles before peeling the fibres and twisting them into strong, usable cord. If time allows, we'll also explore working with bramble and other hedgerow plants to create natural string.
This workshop is suitable for beginners and anyone with an interest in bushcraft, traditional crafts, foraging or experimental archaeology.
Date: Friday 14 August
Time: 10:00am – 2:00pm
Cost: £40 per person
Please bring:
A packed lunch
Gardening or work gloves
Weather-appropriate outdoor clothing and sturdy footwear
Tutor: Kat Wootton, also known as Kat the Hedgewitch, blends experimental archaeology with traditional craft and foraging to create practical items from wild plants.