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Arts and Crafts

Arts and crafts

Arts and crafts have been a traditional strength in the West Country for hundreds of years and rural skills like drystone walling, hurdlemaking, hedgelaying, cob and thatch building, have all enjoyed a renaissance in recent times.

The potential loss of these rural arts was the inspiration behind the founding in 1955 of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen, based in Bovey Tracey, now a centre of excellence not just for traditional crafts, but very much for contemporary work too.

The West Country has also attracted artists and craftsmen from all over the world to work locally, and South Devon is home to perhaps the best known centre for creative work in the UK - Dartington - where the Centre, founded in 1925, is world renown for teaching in music and performance arts. Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears, Michael Tippett, Stravinsky, Poulenc, Ravi Shankar, Hindemith and John Cage have all worked here.

Just around the corner from the Centre, is the Dartington Cider Press Centre, where Bernard Leach once had his pottery, and where you can now purchase a wide variety of local arts and crafts including the famous Dartington Glass.

Another must-see is the Centre for Contemporary Arts and the Natural World (CCANW) lodged in splendid rural isolation at the top of Haldon Hills. Here there are regular exhibitions of artists who use the environment as a medium. They run a full programme of events too, so keep an eye on their website.

There are many, many more studios and workshops, tucked away in the towns and villages all over South Devon - Dartmouth for example, is the home of several art galleries. Exploring them all would take a lifetime. Make a start as soon as you can!