Farnham Fabulous
Pat Coulter enjoys a crafty day out in this Surrey town famous for its pottery.
WE’VE come for a crafty look in and around the old market town of Farnham in Surrey. Farnham has just been awarded the accolade of “World Craft City”, the first location in England to receive the award.
Farnham joins Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, renowned worldwide for its tweed.
Set within the rural backdrop of the Surrey Hills, there’s much to admire in this town, with its splendid Georgian architecture, castle and intriguing cobbled thoroughfares, all set alongside the River Wey.
Hitting the craft trail, our day begins with a “potter” around the Farnham Pottery, just a couple of miles outside town in rural Wrecclesham.
Thanks to sensitive, sympathetic restoration over the years, the old Victorian country pottery has retained its character from its industrious heyday, and it’s delightful to see.
Heartwarmingly, the pottery is still productive almost 150 years on, remaining a creative hub for skilled craftspeople, from wood carvers to rug makers.
The showcase is the hands-on pottery studios, brimming with talented, renowned artists.
It’s a place, too, where would-be potters can “have a throw”, moulding the slick, wet clay wobbling precariously on the mesmerising potter’s wheel.
The welcoming café is a convivial watering hole for the community and inquisitive visitors alike, with coffee and light bites in the sunny courtyard overlooking one of the original historic, brick-built bottle kilns.
The wood-burning kiln would have been fired up with bundles of sticks, taking two days to reach the required 1,000 degrees Centigrade for optimal firing.
Flames could shoot 20 feet out of the chimney, and it wasn’t unknown for alarmed locals to call the fire brigade.
It was a long process, taking a further four days for the kiln to cool down sufficiently to draw out the pottery wares.
Taking one of the
pottery’s guided tours is the perfect way to discover its history and marvel at the potters at work.
Inside, it’s a pleasing jumble of higgledy-piggledy wooden staircases and a warren of rooms, each housing a studio with creative artists at work.
The Farnham Pottery was established in 1873 by Absalom Harris, and was run by five successive generations of the Harris family.
There was a plentiful supply of suitable highly prized gault clay on the site, and the pottery had its own claypit nearby, with a small railway to bring the trucks to the working area.
Initially, the pottery produced mainly domestic and horticultural red ware, such as garden pots – which sold to Gertrude Jekyll, no less.
From the late 1880s onwards, however, it began to exploit the popularity of the Arts and Crafts movement, producing products in the Art Nouveau style.
The pottery was particularly renowned for its sought-after Farnham “greenware”.
Its distinctive greenglazed owl jugs were incredibly popular and sold in upmarket retail outlets, including Liberty of London and even Harrods.
Local artist and potter Sheena Bond, who trained at Farnham’s University for Creative Arts, was inspired by the century-old handwritten ledger books from the pottery.
She has created porcelain vessels depicting the calligraphy from the original orders placed by these illustrious companies.
These imaginative pieces are for sale on the pottery’s website.
Picking up a bundle of tourist-friendly leaflets from the town library, our craft trail happily continues in Farnham, where sculptures can be discovered at every turn.
The cobbled pedestrian Lion and Lamb Yard has a rather Dickensian feel.
There’s a pick-and-mix of independent shops, with enticing luxury goods displayed in browseworthy, bow-fronted windows, plus an abundance of coffee shops and eateries with alfresco seats.
The street is named after the 19th-century hotel that used to occupy the top of the street.
A beautifully crafted teak sculpture commemorates the former hostelry with a companionable lion and lamb.
It’s so tactile, I can’t help giving the lion a stroke!
William Cobbett, born in the 1760s, is possibly Farnham’s most famous son.
So famous, in fact, that he’s had a town centre pub named after him!
Well, it was his birthplace, after all, and was a drinking house even in his day.
A statue depicting him on horseback stands nearby in commemoration of his book “Rural Rides”, chronicling his countryside journeys on horseback throughout the south-east and Midlands.
The book documents the early 19th-century countryside and its people, as well as giving free rein to his opinions, with his descriptive writing coming from the point of view both of farmer and social reformer.
William Cobbett MP became one of the country’s most dedicated and outspoken social commentators, risking both his life and health in the process.
Having joined the Army at the age of twenty-one, he quickly found the corruption and ill-treatment in the senior ranks to be so shocking that he tried to expose the issues, only to be turned upon and charged to appear before a court martial.
Despite fleeing to America, he eventually returned to his native Farnham, where his final resting place can be found at St Andrew’s Church.
By the 1890s and early 1900s, the craft brewing and malting industries were a major source of
income in Farnham. Local farmers produced barley, which was passed on to local maltings, including the Farnham Maltings, to be roasted.
At the other end of the process, there were around 90 public houses in the area.
The Maltings, picturesquely situated alongside the River Wey, now has a different purpose, transformed into a major hub for creative arts.
Happily, though, brewing continues in the area at the nearby Hogs Back Brewery for those who appreciate imbibing a carefully crafted product!
Inside the spacious interior, the Maltings’ regular craft workshops are always popular, offering courses as diverse as willow weaving your own chicken to Japanese calligraphy!
The Nimble Fingers knitting and crochet group drops in every week for a friendly, like-minded get-together, run free of charge in a fun-filled, relaxed environment.
The dance studio gives those nimble of foot the opportunity to express themselves in a more physically creative way.
Farnham’s Craft Town status attracts artists the world over, including one of the Maltings’ artists in residence, weaver Nao
Fukumoto from Japan.
An expert kimono weaver, Nao delights in using natural fabrics such as silk, wool and linen.
She especially loves using pink hues, reminiscent of cherry blossom and her beloved homeland.
The Maltings’ popular riverside café encourages a bustling, vibrant atmosphere, with plenty of new faces, just like me, popping in for a bite and a look around the wellstocked shop full of handcrafted wares for that little something to take home as a memento.
Jumping in the car, a short drive takes us just south of Farnham to Tilford, and the Rural Life Living Museum.
The open-air museum collects and preserves objects associated with farming and goods used by local crafts people.
There’s even a narrowgauge steam railway to amuse kids both young and old for rides around the beautifully wooded landscape encompassing 10 acres.
Poppy gleefully jumps out of the car, as the museum welcomes our four-legged friends.
The charitable trust is run by a band of dedicated volunteers, so there’s always someone only too happy to show visitors around, imparting their knowledge.
The collection boasts some 30 buildings, from a 19th-century cricket pavilion and a cosy shepherd’s hut to an Anderson shelter and Victorian schoolroom, complete with wooden desks and blackboard.
This will jog many a childhood memory of naughtily etching our initials with a compass on the inside of the desk lid!
There are some 40,000 artefacts, from rural crafts such as thatching and beekeeping to brick- and tile-making.
But how did it all begin, I wonder.
Well, like Topsy, it grew, at first unintentionally.
It all began with a horse-drawn plough discovered in woods by museum founders Henry and Madge Jackson.
With permission, they brought it home to use as a garden ornament. Little did they know what they’d started!
Henry had served with the Royal Marines during World War II. Country girl Madge was a Land Army girl.
Shortly after the war they married locally, setting up home here in Old Kiln cottage, adjacent to what is now the museum site.
Spurred on by their horse-plough find, and realising agricultural implements were being lost and destroyed, the couple began visiting farm sales and local auctions, determined to save these historic artefacts.
Many artefacts were kindly donated, such as wagons, binders and hand tools.
Henry and Madge become avid collectors.
Henry’s other passion was trees, and in 1953 he planted the first tree on site, which was the start of the arboretum – a wonderful legacy we can enjoy to this day.
Sparks fly in the Old Kiln Forge when blacksmith John Cooksley hammers red-hot metalwork.
Although an age-old craft, his skill is still in demand with commissions aplenty: a staircase for a new-build property, a chandelier for a local winery, decorative garden gates and weathervanes to mention a few.
Thanks to Farnham and its many talented artists, Poppy and I have enjoyed our craftiest day out ever! ■
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