Heritage Skills Workshops

Open gallery (2)

Place Services were invited to work on the project ‘In the Footsteps of St Felix’. Our aim was to create a bespoke heritage workshop event for the local school and to hold an open day for the community, tackling the heritage skills shortage head on. 

Our team worked closely with the project lead to create a workshop format which could be run on site at St Andrews Church. A group of year 10 and 11 students were invited to the event to try out traditional heritage skills. All these skills are in short supply, with some on the Red List of endangered crafts. By offering them the opportunity to speak to passionate experts in heritage crafts, and to gain hands on experience working with timber, brick, flint, and lime, we were keen to showcase some of the different jobs available in the heritage sector and the opportunities these trades could offer the young students as a future career. The day provided the students the chance to gain hands-on learning outside of the classroom, trying a new skill, and hopefully inspiring some to consider a new career path.  

Mathias Restoration Ltd were there to give students a taste of laying brick and pointing. Joe Orsi supported the ancient trade of flint knapping, while Traditional Oak Carpentry showcased working with timber and Anglia Lime let students have a go at some lime plastering.

The event was coordinated by our team at Place Services and supported by SPAB. It was possible thanks to funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund. The format has been trialled successfully elsewhere in the country, and an apprentice taken on as a result.

The short film of the event can be seen on Youtube. We were also delighted to be invited to the New Ideas for Old Buildings: SPAB-STBA Conference 2024 to be part of a panel discussion on the event, ‘Meeting the Heritage Craft Skills Shortage Head On’.