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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When: 15 June 2026, 7pm
Where: Online
What does ‘sustainability’ really mean when applied to heritage crafts? In the world of mass manufacturing, economic success and environmental protection are often locked in a tug-of-war. But for heritage crafts makers, the story is entirely different. At the micro-scale, environmental sustainability, financial resilience and the safeguarding of vital cultural practices do not compete – they go hand-in-hand, each one reinforcing the other.
Join us for an inspiring online panel discussion featuring sustainable craft researcher Jemima Valentine-Lake @mimavalentinelake and Heritage Crafts Head of Craft Sustainability @maryeluned_craft. Together, they will explore how traditional, low-impact making creates a unique ‘virtuous circle’ that benefits the planet, local economies and our shared living heritage.
• For consumers – Discover how to cut through greenwashing and empower yourself to use your purchasing power for genuine good. Learn how buying local, handmade items directly supports ethical production, environmental care and the survival of endangered skills.
• For heritage crafts makers – Gain practical insights on how to articulate your unique sustainability story to your customers, helping them appreciate the profound value of investing in your work.
Whether you are a conscious consumer looking to make a positive impact or a maker searching for the best ways to communicate your ethical and cultural value, this discussion will help redefine how you view the future of sustainable consumption.
Register via the linktr.ee in our bio or at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/events/the-virtuous-circle/
Over 20 posts we are profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.
Clinton Geldard, from Berkshire, is a veteran with over 20 years of experience in vehicle engineering and a long history of self-taught trim work, welding and fabrication. His bursary will fund specialist training at the @autointerioracademy and @artizantraining, focusing on advanced sewing techniques, machine maintenance and leatherwork skills for car interiors and wider leatherworking practices.
Clinton’s bursary is supported by @theleathersellers.
Clinton said: “The funding will give me the skillset to start my business and give me a career with longevity and purpose.”
Over 20 posts we are profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.
Laura Spencer @nova.stainedglass, from London, entered the stained glass trade in January 2025 through proactive unpaid placements, and has built a technical foundation in glass cutting, leading and site-based restoration at two London studios. Her bursary will fund a glass painting masterclass with @derekhuntartist, followed by 12 days of intensive one-to-one mentoring with @studioorme.
Laura’s bursary is supported by the British Society of Master Glass Painters @bsmgp.
Laura said: “This funding gives me the time, space, expertise and tools to explore glass painting, and enables me to take my maker skills to the next level. I’m excited to develop my own visual style with guidance from teachers I deeply admire, and to create stained glass pieces that reflect all my new learnings!”
Experience the awe of endangered crafts in our very own marquee at @craftfestival , it’s free to view with your festival entry ticket. 🎟️
In a little over a week we return to the wonderful Bovey Tracey Craft Festival and as you can see, it’s a real craft fest! 🔨 🎨 🧵 here you can see our Executive Director @danielcarpenter_ talking about the value of the skills and why they are important to protect, and @aaronvalentinestephens who was demonstrating signwriting in our tent.
There will be demonstrations, talks and so much more and we can’t wait to see you there.
#craftfestival #heritagecrafts #endangeredcrafts
#matchMAKER opportunity!
Fibrous Plasterwork Apprentice
Deadline: 31 July 2026
Location: Basildon, Essex
@fineartmouldings is seeking a motivated and hardworking apprentice to join its team and learn a specialist trade within the architectural mouldings and decorative plasterwork industry. This is a unique opportunity to work alongside experienced craftsmen and designers, producing bespoke mouldings, cornices, ceiling features and decorative architectural details for prestigious homes, heritage buildings and commercial projects across the UK.
As an apprentice, you will receive hands-on training in workshop production, mould making, casting, finishing, design processes and technical drawing. You will learn traditional craftsmanship combined with modern manufacturing techniques and develop skills that can lead to a long-term career within a highly respected specialist industry.
No previous experience is necessary, but a strong work ethic, positive attitude, and willingness to learn are essential.
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.
Over 20 posts we are profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.
Tsun Hin Tang, from Leicester, brings extensive equestrian equipment maintenance experience from the Hong Kong Jockey Club and recently won third prize at the 2026 National Saddlery Competition. His bursary will fund his City & Guilds Level 2 and Level 3 training at the @walsallleatherskillscentre, covering intermediate and advanced courses in bridle, saddle and harness making.
Tsun’s bursary is supported by the @saddlerscompany.saddlershall.
Tsun said: “Receiving this funding from Heritage Crafts and the Saddlers’ Company means more to me than financial support. I began my journey in leather repair at The Hong Kong Jockey Club, and after moving to the UK I have worked hard to continue learning traditional saddlery despite language and financial challenges. This bursary gives me the opportunity to keep developing these heritage skills, build a future in the craft I love, and continue a tradition of hand craftsmanship that I deeply respect. As a Hongkonger and recent immigrant to the UK, I hope my journey can help show that heritage crafts are open to people from all backgrounds and cultures.”
Patrick Burns from the Walsall Leather Skills Centre, said: “Tsun has had one goal from the outset – to become a Master Saddler in the UK – and re-locating from Hong Kong was only the first of many sacrifices he has made in pursuit of that. Having completed the Foundation Course (and getting his first ever Certificate of which he was incredibly proud), he is close to completing intermediate Bridle and will start on both Intermediate Saddle and Harness after the Summer. We are delighted to have him as a student. He is a great ambassador for the Centre and for saddlery.”
Do you need some extra skills training to make that successful transition into craft employment or self employment?
Less than two weeks left to apply for one of our training bursaries of up to £4,000 for new and early-career heritage crafts trainees who require financial support to gain the hands-on skills they need. Training can be on a course or one-to-one in the workshop, accredited or non-accredited.
Supported the Capri Holdings Foundation for the Advancement of Diversity in Fashion, the Dulverton Trust, the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, the Ashley Family Foundation, the Royal British Legion, the City & Guilds Foundation, the Newby Trust, Soane Britain, and Malcolm and Rosalind Gammie.
➡️ Apply now via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/opportunities/training-bursaries/
📅 Deadline: 5pm, Friday 12 June.
📷 2025 recipient Reianna Shakil
Over 20 posts we are profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.
Ella Clifton-Gould @ella_the_shoegirl, from Gloucestershire, has spent two years training in shoemaking, including specialising in orthopaedic footwear at @tuttyshandmadeshoes and studying in Germany. Her bursary will fund her place on the @unioftheartslondon Footwear Summer School at the @londonfashioncollege under the tutelage of Nafi Mustafa, covering course fees, travel and accommodation.
Ella’s bursary is supported by the @worshipfulcordwainers.
Ella said: “Without Heritage Crafts and the Cordwainers’ Company I wouldn’t have been able to have an experience like the shoemaking summer course. It’s been an invaluable resource and so exciting to be part of a creative community.”
Andrew Peal, @masterofthecordwainers, said: “The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers is delighted that Ella and Olive are to receive the 2026 shoemaking bursaries. It is incredibly important to the Company that we promote and support the craft of shoemaking so that it continues not only as a heritage craft but also as an important business sector in the UK. We are pleased that we can assist Ella and Olive in the development of their skills which will benefit their shoemaking careers and the UK’s footwear industry.”
