Endangered Craft
Love it or lose it.
I became aware of endangered craft in my first year of studying historic conservation. I would say, up until that point, it wasn’t something I had exactly given a great deal of consideration to. Or at least, not in any sort of official way. It had not been designated in my mind up until that point as an actual issue to be interested in. Sure, I love old things. Am forever collecting them, repairing them, and excitedly gasping when I see something hundreds of years old still soldiering on. Until then I hadn’t thought to give these hand-crafted objects a designation. But as soon as I heard the term, it clicked.
Of course the odd, sometimes eccentric and always rare objects that I was inherently drawn to had a name and a classification within this category. A beautifully thatched roof. A delicate thin sheet of hand-pounded gold leaf. The intricate weaving of a caned chair seat. All of these things you will take for granted if you live in London. This city is absolutely rammed with unusual and gorgeous hand-forged objects. Where I am from (that is the Great white north of Canada) you will find versions that have often been brought over by our foremothers and fathers in Europe, the UK, Asia and elsewhere. And of course, the rich indigenous traditions of weaving, sewing and quilting.
I recently inherited my grandfather’s Metis sash. referred to as Ceinture fléchée or Assomption sash within the Indigenous community, this tradition of fingerweaving is considered an at-risk skill, and could disappear as the community elders slowly pass on. Without teaching these skills, the whole tradition withers. You can find similar examples all over the world. So when I began practicing ceramic repair and kintsugi repair, I really connected with the value in keeping these craft practices in people’s consciousness.
I remember being upset visiting the zoo when I was younger, as I didn’t like to see animals in cages. ‘How can this possibly be right??’ I remember thinking. However, as I grew up, I started to see the value in helping along the propagation of species that face extinction through monitoring and breeding. But perhaps most importantly, through awareness raising. People don’t tend to donate, volunteer or care for the preservation of things that they just take for granted. In helping foster understanding that some species (I think you can see where i’m going with this roundabout analogy) wont be around for long if we aren’t a bit more proactive. In making people care, we are ensuring that steps can be taken to promote and nurture these species. You could say the same applies to endangered craft! So let’s delve a little deeper into what endangered craft means exactly, the relationship between endangered craft and intangible heritage, and some super hands-on ways we can nurture these crafts in our very own community.
What is Endangered craft?
Endangered craft refers to traditional skills and practices that are at risk of disappearing, often due to industrialization, aging practitioners, and a lack of younger people learning these skills. These crafts are typically handmade, rooted in local culture, and passed down through generations. Globally, examples include Japanese urushi lacquer work, Indian hand block printing, and Mongolian felt-making. In the UK, endangered crafts include straw hat plaiting, parchment making, traditional basket weaving using native materials like hazel and willow and even canal boat painting. The UK’s Red List of Endangered Crafts, published by the Heritage Crafts Association, documents dozens of such practices now facing extinction without urgent preservation.
Endangered craft and Intangible heritage
Endangered crafts are a core component of Intangible cultural heritage—the traditions, knowledge, and skills that communities recognize as part of their cultural identity. Think of an elder passing along a skill to their grandchild. Without the active transmission of these skills, the skill will disapear because the wisdom of it will be undocumented and lost.
A great example of intangible heritage would include the performing art of Noh theatre. Noh is a classical form of Japanese drama that has been performed since the 14th century, combining stylised movement, masks, chanting, and music to tell stories drawn from mythology, history, and literature. Noh is transmitted through rigorous apprenticeship within specific family lineages or schools, often from parent to child. Each gesture, vocal intonation, and costume has symbolic meaning, and the art form is deeply rooted in Shinto and Zen Buddhist aesthetics—valuing simplicity, stillness, and impermanence. UNESCO inscribed Noh (along with Kyōgen and Kabuki) on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. Beyond performance, Noh encapsulates a living philosophy, intergenerational knowledge, and traditional craftsmanship (such as mask carving and costume making), making it a powerful example of Japan’s intangible cultural heritage.
Unlike monuments or artifacts, intangible heritage is living and transmitted through practice and participation. Crafts like Scottish kilt making, Romani peg-making, or the Welsh love spoon tradition embody stories, values, and regional identity. When these crafts decline, communities risk losing more than just objects—they lose language, memory, and meaning tied to place and lineage. Protecting intangible heritage through teaching endangered crafts ensures that this living knowledge continues to evolve while staying connected to its roots.
Ways to explore endangered craft
If you’re reading this, you already know that our repair studio loves and tries to nurture historic and endangered craft as much as possible, hosting weekly workshops in kintsugi repair, with some specialty workshops in the pipeline…but maybe all this talk about beautiful traditional craft has really whet your appetite for something more. Don’t worry, i’ve got you covered. Here’s a little list of some fantastic workshops and courses around London and beyond for you to check out:
Gold Leaf workshop- Reverse glass gilding with David Smith
Personal fave, David Smith is a master signwriter and gilder. He hosts both in-person and online courses. Well-worth the investment.
Weaving Wild – Basketry with the Seasons (North Wales)
Seasonal, foraged basketry workshops led by Maria Strutz in Denbigh. Learn to weave with bramble, bark, willow, and other wild fibres in immersive full-day or multi-day sessions. Beginner-friendly and deeply rooted in local plant knowledge.
Barn the Spoon – Spoon Carving & Greenwood Crafts (London & UK-wide)
Led by Barnaby Carder, this popular workshop teaches spoon and bowl carving using traditional tools and techniques. Also hosts Spoonfest, an annual gathering celebrating green woodworking and endangered spoon-carving craft.
Native Hands – Ancestral Skills in the Wild (Sussex)
Offers unique woodland-based courses in wild pottery, foraged basketry, cordage, and bushcraft. Designed to reconnect you with traditional, nature-based skills in a nurturing outdoor setting.
Heritage Crafts at Highgrove (Gloucestershire)
Professional and introductory courses in heritage craft skills including letter carving, blacksmithing, chair caning, stained glass, and more. Taught on the Highgrove estate and run by The Prince’s Foundation to support endangered UK crafts.
Pyrites Craft Camp (Shropshire/Herefordshire border)
A family-friendly, immersive craft camp offering workshops in hazel basketry, spoon carving, scything, blacksmithing, cob building, spinning, and dyeing. Held annually with a focus on low-impact living and traditional making.
Weaving Workshops by Makers Guild Wales (Cardiff)
Makers Guild offers hands-on workshops in willow weaving, foraged fibres, and other endangered textile techniques, including “Weave your own garden trug” and beginner basketry. Held at Craft in the Bay gallery.
Treehouse Festival (East of England)
A week-long living heritage experience offering glassblowing, blacksmithing, spinning, rag rugging, dyeing, leatherwork, and more in a participatory, off-grid environment. Ideal for all ages and skill levels—pay what you can.
South West Heritage Trust Workshops (Somerset/Devon)
Seasonal programs for families and youth in brick-making, hurdle weaving, rag rugging, and lime plastering. Designed to revive and share rural and traditional crafts across the southwest.
