Craft status
The Heritage Crafts Red List
Drawing on the conservation status system used by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust Watchlist, Heritage Crafts uses a system of four categories of risk to assess the viability of heritage crafts. A heritage craft is considered to be viable if there are sufficient craftspeople to transmit the craft skills to the next generation.
Extinct in the UK
Crafts classified as ‘extirpated’ or ‘locally extinct’ are those which are no longer practised in the UK. For the purposes of this research, this category only includes crafts which have become extinct in the past generation.
Critically Endangered
Crafts classified as ‘critically endangered’ are those at serious risk of no longer being practised in the UK. They may include crafts with a shrinking base of craftspeople, crafts with limited training opportunities, crafts with low financial viability, or crafts where there is no mechanism to pass on the skills and knowledge.
Endangered
Crafts classified as ‘endangered’ are those which currently have sufficient craftspeople to transmit the craft skills to the next generation, but for which there are serious concerns about their ongoing viability. This may include crafts with a shrinking market share, an ageing demographic or crafts with a declining number of practitioners.
Currently Viable Crafts
Crafts classified as ‘currently viable’ are those which are in a healthy state and have sufficient craftspeople to transmit the craft skills to the next generation. They may include crafts with a large market share, widely popular crafts, or crafts with a strong local presence. A classification of ‘currently viable’ does not mean that the craft is risk-free or without issues affecting its future sustainability/viability.
Heritage Crafts Inventory
The 2025 edition of the Red List of Endangered Crafts marks a significant evolution in how we understand and safeguard traditional crafts.
This year, we introduce the Heritage Craft Inventory – a new, inclusive framework that ensures all heritage crafts, regardless of their current status, have a place where they are recognised and valued under one umbrella. This expanded approach allows us to shine a light not only on endangered and critically endangered crafts, but also on those that are resurgent, culturally distinctive, or rooted in specific communities and regions. It reflects the dynamic landscape of craft today – one that is constantly evolving and shaped by both challenges and opportunities.
Culturally distinctive crafts
Crafts designated as ‘culturally distinctive’ might have a broad uptake across the UK, but hold a particular significance for a defined community of practice, whether that is geographic, cultural, ethnic or religious. Those that are also on the Red List are known as ‘crafts in need of cultural safeguarding’.
- Canal art and boat painting (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Cornish hedging (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Fair Isle Knitting
- Fair Isle straw back chair making (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Fairground art (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Gansey knitting
- Harris tweed weaving
- Islamic calligraphy
- Northern Isles basket making (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Orkney chair making (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Petrakivka (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Pysanky (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Sgian dubh and dirk making (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Shetland lace knitting
- Shinty caman making
- Sofrut calligraphy
- Sporran making (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Thatching (Irish vernacular) (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Thatching (Scottish vernacular) (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Thatching (Welsh vernacular) (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Vardo and living wagon crafts (craft for cultural safeguarding)
- Welsh double cloth weaving (craft for cultural safeguarding)
Resurgent crafts
Crafts designated as ‘resurgent’ are currently experiencing a positive trajectory as a result of an upswing in new entrants. Just because a craft is considered resurgent does not mean that it cannot also be endangered, but rather that its decline has started to reverse and that its situation is likely to continue improving.
Latest Red List stories
Craft skills remain under threat with 20 new additions to the Red List of Endangered Crafts
Nine more grants to help save endangered crafts
Craft skills under threat with 17 additions to the Red List of Endangered Crafts
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This week’s #craftfocus is cut crystal glass making.
British cut crystal glass, known for its brilliance and intricate designs, has become a hallmark of craftsmanship. In 1674, George Ravenscroft, a glassmaker based in London, patented a new method for producing glass with lead oxide, making it easier to work with, heavier and more brilliant, giving it a high level of clarity and sparkle due to its increased refraction of light. This lead crystal became highly suitable for cutting, as it could be deeply engraved and polished, giving rise to intricate designs and brilliant finishes.
During the 19th century, the British crystal industry reached its height. Crystal glass was highly sought-after, and many of the cutting patterns that we associate with traditional crystal glassware today were developed. From the mid-20th century onwards, British glassmakers shifted focus from mass production to preserving the artisanal quality and heritage of glass cutting.
The glass is cut using various diamond or carborundum grinding wheels. The wheels cut grooves into the glass with straight, sharp angles to increase the sparkle of the glass by adding more light-reflecting surfaces. Surfaces can then be cut a second time, a process known as smoothing, to create a finer finish. Few people do the second cut anymore as it adds considerable time to production.
Cut crystal glass making is classified as critically endangered on our Red List of Endangered Crafts. Recruitment has become very challenging due to a lack of training provision. High setup costs and lack of specialist equipment hinder training, and insufficient job security prevents guaranteed employment after training.
https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/craft/cut-crystal-glass-making/
Images: @cumbriacrystal
#heritagecrafts #craftfocus #cutcrystalglassmaking #crystalglass
#matchMAKER opportunity!
Furniture Making Apprenticeships
Location: Hampshire
Deadline: 20 May 2026 (they advise anyone who is considering applying to make contact well before the closing date)
An Edward Barnsley Workshop furniture making apprenticeship provides a thorough practical training in a commercial environment. Almost all of their former apprentices continue to work successfully as furniture makers. Most work as employees, while some have gone on to set up their own furniture-making businesses. In recent years two of their apprentices have represented the UK in cabinet-making at the WorldSkills finals.
The majority of the apprentices’ time is spent at the bench. The rest is spent in the machine shop and helping with jobs around the workshop. Apprentices are expected to do some essential workshop tasks including sweeping up and machine maintenance. This thorough and comprehensive woodworking apprenticeship teaches the skills needed to succeed as a professional furniture-maker.
Find out more including how to apply at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/matchmaker.
#matchMAKER is the online platform for work-based training and entry-level employment opportunities hosted by @heritagecrafts and supported by @soanebritain.
From the flames of the blacksmith’s forge to the precision of the silversmith’s bench, metalworking covers a range of highly-skilled practices. Nominations are now OPEN for the Emerging Metalworker of the Year Award 2026, supported by Lucy and Laurence Butcher.
This award celebrates the talent, grit, and artistry of those in the first five years of their professional journey. It is open to any craft where metal is the primary material, including blacksmithing, coppersmithing, tinsmithing, silversmithing, goldsmithing, swordsmithing, knife making, cutlery making, bronze casting, brass instrument making … and more!
✨ Who are we looking for?
This award celebrates an early-career heritage craftsperson (in the first five years of their professional practice) who has made an outstanding start to their metalworking career. We are looking for a maker who:
• Demonstrates a high level of technical skill.
• Raises the profile of metalworking through sharing what they do.
• Shows the grit and dedication to achieve long-term success.
🏆 The Prize
The winner will receive a £1,000 cash prize and will be celebrated at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November 2026. Plus, we are also running similar awards in crafts, such as green woodworking and leatherworking, with additional prizes of £1,000 provided by Woodsmith, the Leathersellers` Company and others.
📅 Deadline: Friday 21 August 2026 (at 5pm)
➡️ Nominate someone (or yourself) today via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/our-awards/emerging-metalworker-of-the-year/.
📷 2025 finalist Clare Collier @smeltdownblacksmiths
#heritagecrafts #metalworking #blacksmithing #silversmithing #bladesmithing
This week’s #mondaymaker is @laurawilkesdesigns – hand-printed wallpaper and textile maker.
Laura is a New Forest based artist and maker whose work grows directly from the landscape around her. Working from a small workshop on the edge of the forest, she creates handmade wallpaper inspired by the quiet textures, shifting light and wild botanicals of the forest and coast she calls home.
A self-taught artist and single mum, Laura has shaped her business through determination, patience, and a deep respect for nature. Each wallpaper design begins as a pencil study, before being transferred onto large sheets of lino which she slowly and carefully handcarves. Her work carries the marks of the maker – subtle variations, tiny imperfections, and the warmth of something crafted with intention.
Today, Laura continues to create from her workshop, balancing motherhood, making and a growing list of collectors, interior designers, and independent retailers who are drawn to the honesty and earthiness of her work. Her wallpapers are not just surfaces – they are stories of nature, life and the quiet beauty found in handmade craft.
View Laura’s full profile on our Makers’ Directory: https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/maker/laura-wilkes/
#heritagecrafts #mondaymaker #wallpapermaking #textileprinting
#matchMAKER opportunity!
Apprentice Bookbinder
Location: Cambridge
J S Wilson & Son Bookbinders began life in Trinity Street, Cambridge in 1830. It is one of the oldest trading bookbinders in the UK. Its bookbinders are professionally trained craftspeople priding themselves in their work at all times.
Day-to-day tasks will include:
• Using hand-operated machines to glue and stitch
• Cutting paper to size with hand and machine cutting tools
• Checking the quality of work and meeting production deadlines
• Using hand tools to make bindings for books, sew pages, and add decorations such as gold lettering, edging, or marble endpapers
• Using traditional materials to decorate and clean discoloured pages
• Producing specialised books like family histories or books for libraries and museums
• Repairing and restoring antique books and using leather and papers to match the original materials.
Find out more including how to apply at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/matchmaker.
#matchMAKER is the online platform for work-based training and entry-level employment opportunities hosted by @heritagecrafts and supported by @soanebritain.
The art of embroidery is more than just thread and fabric – it’s a story told through every stitch. We are delighted to announce that nominations are now OPEN for the Emerging Embroiderer of the Year Award! Supported by the Broderers’ Company, this award celebrates the talent, patience, and intricate skill of those at the beginning of their professional journey. 🪡🧵
✨ Who are we looking for?
This award celebrates an early-career heritage craftsperson (in the first five years of their professional practice) who has made an outstanding start to their embroidery career. We are looking for a maker who:
• Demonstrates a high level of technical skill.
• Raises the profile of embroidery through sharing what they do.
• Shows the grit and dedication to achieve long-term success.
🏆 The Prize
The winner will receive a £1,000 cash prize and will be celebrated at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November 2026. Plus, we are also running similar awards in crafts, such as weaving and upholstery, with additional prizes of £1,000 provided by Rose Uniacke, House of Sonnaz and others.
📅 Deadline: Friday 21 August 2026 (at 5pm)
➡️ Nominate someone (or yourself) today via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/our-awards/emerging-embroiderer-of-the-year/.
📷 2025 winner Sophie Boylan @soyasophie
#heritagecrafts #embroidery #textiles #needlework #heritagecraftsawards
This week’s #craftfocus is split cane rod making.
Split cane rods were developed in the USA in the 1870s. Until this time rods had been made from whole cane or solid wood, and the split cane rod was a big improvement due to its lightness and flexibility (the ‘carbon fibre of its day’). Despite the introduction of fibreglass and carbon fibre, split cane can be just as good. Today, split cane rods are a luxury good, but they still need to have all the performance that split cane rods had in their heyday.
Split cane rods are specifically made with tonkin bamboo grown in a small area of southern China. It is a very sustainable crop harvested every few years and is one of the quickest growing plants on the planet. Only a tiny fraction is used to make rods – the rest used as scaffolding and furniture.
The cane is split out from two inch diameter culms which are straightened and flattened before heat treating and planning to shape each of the six equilateral strips that make up a hexagonal section. The work is very precise with sections accurate to a thousand of an inch. Planed sections are glued and bound before finishing and adding handles, ferrules and guides.
Split cane rod making is classified as endangered on our Red List of Endangered Crafts. Bamboo rods still have many benefits over carbon, and yet there is a mindset, instilled by the carbon rod manufacturers, that cane is heavy and weak. This could not be further than the truth, especially for the traditional realm of streams, where cane rods are the unsurpassed ruler.
https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/craft/split-cane-rod-making/
Images: Edward Barder @barder_rod
#heritagecrafts #craftfocus #splitcanerodmaking #fishingrodmaking
#matchMAKER opportunity!
Apprentice Craft Technician: Ceramics
Location: Stoke-on-Trent
Based in the historic heart of the British ceramics industry and founded by a fifth-generation ceramics family, @1882ltd is dedicated to bridging the gap between centuries-old heritage craft and contemporary design.
The vacancy is for an apprentice Craft Technician: Ceramics. The successful applicant will be trained across many aspects of pottery/ceramics production. This will include learning and understanding materials, design and production techniques, finishing and packaging of goods. This is a hands-on role working within an active ceramics factory. Your day-to-day department will be the Decoration & Glazing team. You will receive extensive training in all heritage and contemporary decoration techniques and processes.
You will also be placed on a Level 3 Craft Technician: Ceramics apprenticeship. You will be required to attend training with Creative Alliance and partner organisations throughout the 18 months of the course.
Find out more including how to apply at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/matchmaker.
#matchMAKER is the online platform for work-based training and entry-level employment opportunities hosted by @heritagecrafts and supported by @soanebritain.
