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
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Craft skills under threat with 17 additions to the Red List of Endangered Crafts
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This week’s #mondaymaker is Angharad Thomas @angharadt – a glove knitter.
Angharad started making hand knitted patterned gloves around 15 years ago. She undertook a master’s in knitwear and knitted fabric design at what is now Trent University, then became a knitwear designer working with both hand and machine knitting for about five years. After this, Angharad moved into university level teaching in textiles and then design more broadly. She completed a PhD on textiles and sustainability through the lens of patterned gloves. Angharad most enjoys the initial designing process and slowly seeing the pattern emerge through knitting.
If you want to read an exclusive interview about Angharad’s work, become a member of Heritage Crafts and learn more in the members portal: https://www.heritagecrafts.org.uk/join-us/
#heritagecrafts #mondaymaker #glovemaking #knitting
#matchMAKER opportunity!
Heritage Building Craftsperson Trainee
Location: Danbury, Essex
Bakers of Danbury Ltd is a long-established Essex based construction company, who carry out a broad spectrum of works from specialised restoration works to churches and listed buildings, to mainstream construction and insurance repairs. They are recruiting a Trainee Building Craftsman specialising in stone, brick and plaster who will work within their Church and Heritage Building Department. You may be starting out in construction or already working as a tradesperson – looking to focus your skills by working on fascinating and rewarding historic buildings. Alternatively, you may be working in a labouring/semi-skilled position and looking to progress to craftsman status.
You will be working as part of the onsite team gaining practical hands-on construction experience. This will combine with entry onto their bespoke Heritage Training Programme, allowing you to further develop your craft skills within a recognised training programme.
The work and training you will be involved in will cover traditional works such as stonework, lime plastering and mortars, brickwork repairs, joinery and other skills necessary to specialise in the conservation and repair of historical buildings, churches and ancient monuments.
Find out 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.
Heritage Crafts and the International Guild of Knot Tyers have launched a training bursary for a new or early-career practitioner in maritime rope and twine crafts. The successful applicant will benefit from up to £4,000 in funding, as well as one-to-one support from the staff at Heritage Crafts.
The bursaries are provided to help cover or subsidise the cost of training for a new entrant or early-career practitioner who would otherwise be prevented from pursuing this career path as a result of the cost.
Maritime rope and twine crafts in this context relate to both sea and inland waterways, and can include, but are not limited to, rope making, rigging, net making, fender making and so on.
The maritime rope and twine bursaries sit alongside others in fashion textiles and costume (supported by the Costume Society), leatherworking (supported by the Leathersellers’ Foundation), saddlery (supported by the Saddlers’ Company), shoe making (supported by the Cordwainers’ Company), stained glass (supported by the British Society of Master Glass Painters) and building crafts in Northern Ireland (supported by CITBNI). Additional bursaries for other crafts will open in April.
To find out more including how to apply (deadline 20 March) follow the linktr.ee in our bio.
📷 2025 recipient Felix Gillies Creasey.
This week’s #craftfocus is orrery making.
Orrery making is the creation of mechanical solar system models that have been made for centuries as teaching aids.
Orreries use a complex system of clockwork gears to illustrate the relative positions and motions of planets and moons according to the sun-centered model.
The manufacture of orreries requires a high level of mechanical engineering techniques, woodworking and mathematical skills, and a good sense of design.
Makers use lathes and milling machines to cut custom brass gears with exact tooth counts to match planetary speeds. The technique of epicyclic gearing is used to stack gears on top of one another and keep the machine compact. Finally, the process is finished with fine metal polishing and the mounting of stone or metal orbs, to ensure all components rotate smoothly.
Orrery making is classified as critically endangered on our Craft Inventory. While there is worldwide demand for orreries, makers face the issue of the high level of skill and mathematical knowledge required to make a quality orrery. There are no recognised or structured training programmes available and most existing pracitioners are past retirement age, making it very difficult to learn the craft.
Images: Staines & Son Orrery Makers @stainesandsonorrerymakers
#heritagecrafts #craftfocus #orrerymaking
Heritage Crafts and @citbni1 have launched new training bursaries for new or early-career practitioners in building crafts in Northern Ireland. The successful applicants will benefit from up to £4,000 in funding, as well as one-to-one support from the staff at Heritage Crafts.
The bursaries are provided to help cover or subsidise the cost of training for a Northern Ireland based new entrant or early-career practitioner who would otherwise be prevented from pursuing this career path as a result of the cost.
Building crafts in this context are crafts that relate to the built environment (including interiors). Visit our website for a non-exclusive list of examples.
The building craft bursaries sit alongside others in fashion textiles and costume (supported by the Costume Society), leatherworking (supported by the Leathersellers’ Foundation), saddlery (supported by the Sadder’s Company), shoe and boot making (supported by the Cordwainers’ Company), stained glass (supported by the British Society of Master Glass Painters), and maritime rope and twine crafts (supported by the International guild of Knot Tyers). Additional bursaries for other crafts will open in April.
To find out more including how to apply (deadline 20 March) follow the linktr.ee in our bio.
Over 36 posts we are profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.
Harry Walkeden, from North Yorkshire, served for nine years as a Guardsman/Drummer in the Coldstream Guards, including a deployment to Afghanistan. Since leaving the Army, he has been working as an apprentice stonemason for the @nationaltrust. His bursary will fund a series of specialist courses to help him to establish a successful business.
Harry’s bursary is supported by the @armybenevolentfund.
Harry said: “This funding allows me to complete training that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to, gaining broader craft skills at an important early stage of my career so that I can continue to improve and develop in my chosen profession of heritage masonry.”
#matchMAKER opportunity!
Trainee Memorial Mason
Location: Stockton-On-Tees
Stockton Memorials is seeking a trainee memorial mason to join their skilled and compassionate team. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who is looking to learn a traditional craft and build a meaningful career in memorial masonry. You will be trained in all aspects of memorial masonry including stone cutting, lettering, engraving, and installation of headstones and monuments.
Responsibilities:
-Assist in the preparation, carving, and finishing of memorials.
-Learn to use hand tools and machinery for stonework.
-Help with installations at cemeteries and other memorial sites.
-Maintain a clean and safe working environment.
-Handle materials and equipment responsibly and respectfully.
-Liaise respectfully with clients during sensitive times.
-Follow company procedures and health & safety regulations
Find out 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.
Heritage Crafts and the @worshipfulcordwainers have launched new training bursaries for new or early-career practitioners in shoe and boot making. The successful applicants will benefit from up to £4,000 in funding, as well as one-to-one support from the staff at Heritage Crafts.
The bursaries are provided to help cover or subsidise the cost of training for a new entrant or early-career practitioner who would otherwise be prevented from pursuing this career path as a result of the cost.
Applications for this bursary can include hand-stitched shoe and/or boot making.
The shoe and boot making bursaries sit alongside others in fashion textiles and costume (supported by the Costume Society), leatherworking (supported by the Leathersellers’ Foundation), saddlery (supported by the Sadder’s Company), stained glass (supported by the British Society of Master Glass Painters), maritime rope and twine crafts (supported by the International guild of Knot Tyers) and building crafts in Northern Ireland (supported by CITBNI). Additional bursaries for other crafts will open in April.
To find out more including how to apply (deadline 20 March) follow the linktr.ee in our bio.
📷 2025 bursary recipient Eleni Kai.
