Research reports

Research into heritage craft is patchy. For example, we have excellent recent research on the craft sector economy in England, but do not have this data for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. There is research available on some areas of the use of craft (e.g. education) but little in others (e.g. in theraputic settings – dementia care, occupational health, etc.)

If you are looking for a masters dissertation topic in the field of intangible cultural heritage, please do get in touch.

Please let us know of other UK research which is missing from the listing below.

Mapping Heritage Craft (Creative & Cultural Skills, 2012)
The Craft Blueprint: a workforce development plan for craft in the UK (Creative & Cultural Skills, 2009)
Towards a Definition of Heritage Crafts, by Hilary Jennings (Creative and Cultural Skills, 2012)
Crafts in the English Countryside: towards a future, edited by Professor EJT Collins (The Countryside Agency, 2005) and a reflection on change (to 2014) by the HCA
Getting into heritage crafts – pre-apprenticeship first contact opportunities for young people and heritage craft businesses (Heritage Crafts Association, 2017)
Mapping Intangible Cultural Heritage Assets and Collections in Scotland (Local Voices CIC, 2021)
Traditional Wooden Boatbuilding Skills in the UK (Heritage Crafts, 2023)
Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Showmen and Boaters Craft Makers Report, by Imogen Bright Moon (Patrin Foundation, 2023)
Manifesto for Making (Heritage Crafts Association, 2013)
Councils Survey (Heritage Crafts Association, 2017)
Glorious Obsession: Scottish Indigenous Crafts Today (Scottish Arts Council, 2000)
Intangible Cultural Heritage in Scotland: the way forward (Napier University, 2008)
– and the ongoing follow-up project with AHRB funding
Scotland’s Crafts, by Louise Butler (NMSE Publishing Ltd, 2000)
Sustaining Our Living Heritage (Heritage Lottery Fund, 2000)
It’s all relative: the small craft museum’s contribution to intangible cultural heritage, by Dr Kelly Cordes (pdf available from the British Library or the author’s website)

Survey of heritage crafts training provision

Heritage Crafts is carrying out a survey of heritage crafts training provision in the UK. This will include both formal and informal training and short courses. The information collected will be used to signpost new makers to available training opportunities and will...

Report on traditional boatbuilding skills

This report arises from the 2022 survey of traditional boatbuilding skills we carried out in partnership with the Wooden Boatbuilders Trade Association. Its aims were to raise awareness, to create a list of endangered skills, and to consult with the boatbuilding...

Report on endangered basketmaking skills

This report arises from the first UK-wide survey of the endangered basketry skills we carried out in partnership with the Basketmakers’ Association, the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers and the Museum of English Rural Life. Its aims were to raise awareness, to...

Taking Heritage Crafts International

by Innan Sasaki, Warwick Business School, and Davide Ravasi, UCL School of Management Heritage and heritage crafts are sometimes misunderstood as part of a purely nostalgic and inward-looking industry. But those who work in the industry know that heritage crafters...

Getting into heritage crafts – advisory document

Pre-apprenticeship first contact opportunities for young people and heritage craft businesses A theory of change advisory document from an Ernest Cook funded pilot project in South West England Written and compiled by Tracy Hill, The Creativity Chamber, for the...

The importance of Heritage Crafts

For most of our history, making things by hand was the norm, and the skills were passed from one generation to the next. In this digital age, when so many spend their days in front of a computer screen, the thrill and sense of satisfaction in taking time to make...

Survey – December 2009 to March 2010

In December 2009, the HCA posted a survey for traditional craftspeople. It was publicised specifically to craftspeople who had already shown support for the HCA, as well as more publicly on the HCA website and other websites. The survey had 206 respondents. Click here...

2011 Council Survey

Following anecdotal evidence that traditional crafts were not recognised at local government level, instead slipping between heritage (buildings) and the arts, the HCA conducted a survey into the support local councils (at city, district and county level) in England...

Resources for Researchers

Please see heritagecrafts.org.uk/research/ for a listing of published research. We are also developing a research agenda for the safeguarding of heritage crafts, including their use in various settings, and would be very happy to speak to anyone working in these...