Weald and Downland Living Museum Ticket Portal

Monday 10 – Tuesday 11 November 2025

This is an intensive 2 day course suitable for beginners or those wanting to improve their skills. Students will learn how to take a project right through from initial preparation to a good final finish.

Amongst the skills that you will be perfecting will be surface preparation, staining, grain filling, French polishing, and finishing on top of French polish. Course notes will be provided.
French polishing is a big part of the course but you do need to know the other areas of wood finishing to become a good French polisher.

Day 1
Surface preparation – New wood & old
Surface removal
Shellac (French Polish) – It`s origins, history of usage & preparation
Staining & colouring – Using 6 types of stain & learning their advantages & disadvantages
Sealing
Grain filling – Reasons for & against, types of grain filler & application

Day 2
Removal of excess grain filler – abrasives
Making a polishing rubber
Charging a rubber
Bodying Up
Defect faulting
Pulling Over
Making a hard polishing wax
Making coloured wax sticks
Finishing on top of French Polish

Sunday 01 June 2025

Sunday 17 August 2025

A friendly and informal course during which participants will have the opportunity to use traditional tools and to turn simple objects.

This one-day course offers the opportunity to learn the concepts of pole lathing to create component parts for various projects.

Experience the use of draw horse and knife to shape fresh timber prior to commencing turning with the lathe.

Options and designs are possible and a little discussion will ensure you get the most from your lathe. The day is designed for “between centres” turning to assist in making turned items, especially for chairs and chair making.

From novice to experienced, all will be helped to create their own specific requirements to take home and use for their next woodworking projects.

Saturday 08 - Sunday 09 November 2025

This two day course has been designed for those with little or no previous tool sharpening experience, who enjoy working with wood but have found difficulty achieving a satisfying standard of work due to their lack of tool tuning and sharpening skills. During the course you will learn how to sharpen wood cutting tools to professional standards and select new or second-hand tools that are well engineered.

Tuesday 19 - 21 August 2025

Over three days and starting with a simple stave of timber you will learn to shape a fully working bow based on the design of the great bow of the Hundred Years' War.

Saturday 19 July – Sunday 20 July 2025

Coracles are traditional riverboats. Round in shape, they are paddled with one oar. On this two-day course you will make a traditional coracle and try out your boating skills on the Museum's mill pond.  You will make a coracle covered in calico and receive instructions for completing the final stage (waterproofing) at home.  The finished coracle is quite large so please consider appropriate transport.

Tuesday 24 to Wednesday 25 June 2025

Your tutor, Sarah, will guide you through the various processes involved in creating a decorative relief carving in Limewood using traditional tools and techniques. Choose from a selection of 4 example designs or create your own unique design to carve and take home with you.

Friday 04 April 2025

Friday 16 May 2025

Learn how to make a basic sturdy traditional Sweet Chestnut gate hurdle, to go around stock or in a gateway.

Tuesday 11 March 2025

Wednesday 12 March 2025

Thursday 13 March 2025

Spoon carving is the ultimate hands on woodcraft. On this one day course you’ll learn safe knife grips and axe skills, and gain an understanding of working with the grain to create functional wooden spoons.

Thursday 26 June 2025

Learn the basic techniques involved in letter carving in wood. During this one day course, Sarah will take you through the various elements required to carve lettering in a basic font in Limewood using traditional carving tools. After lunch, you'll then have the opportunity to either carve some initials or a small sign of your choice to take home with you.

Sunday 16 March 2025

Spend the morning making a unique woodland brush using branch wood, tampico fibres and rush.

Friday 14 March 2025

Saturday 15 March 2025

Starting with an axed out bowl blank from half a log, learn how to shape it into a bowl suitable for soup or cereal, using a foot powered pole lathe.

Tuesday 26  – Thursday 28 August 2025

This workshop runs over three days and aims to give participants the knowledge and skills needed to make a range of arrows ranging from modern target style arrows, primitive hunter gather arrows and medieval war arrows that you’ll make using traditional medieval methods.

Over the three days you'll prepare and work with sawn out timber made from stems of shrubs with excellent qualities for arrow making and discover how our ancestors made arrows to suit their needs for warfare or as part of their hunter gatherer lifestyles.

Saturday 26 - Sunday 27 April 2025

The ideal project for learning green (unseasoned) wood working techniques, also for anyone wishing to further their endeavours on their own afterwards. The draw horse is the old and very efficient forerunner of the work-mate and can be designed to fit the operator, no matter height nor intended purposes.

Starting out with the intended uses of the draw horse, fresh logs and prepared parts will be used for the design and build. Day one assembles the component parts, day two continues with joint-work and completion. Then a necessary trial-run before despatch.

All materials, demonstration, tool-use and on-going assistance provided to help everyone make their own draw horse to take home at the end of the course.

From complete beginner to anyone with previous skills, all should enjoy their experience of crafting their very own all-in-one work bench, vice, clamp, table or seat; however you choose to use it.

Saturday 31 May 2025

Saturday 16 August 2025

This course involves both discussions on woodlands and their historical management, and practical sessions involving tutoring in using various tools and the pole lathe. You will learn a different way of looking at trees, how they grow, how they can be managed to provide a wide range of differing timber for traditional woodworking.

• Use of various timbers and design – the very starting point of making serviceable wooden implements and furniture.
• Get experience in cleaving, shaping with axe and drawknife and begin to feel the attraction of these ancient working practices.
• Students make their own traditional-style charcoal makers stool to take home.
• Demonstration on the use of the pole lathe for shaping and jointwork.
• All techniques demonstrated and constant guidance given as required so that each student can learn and enjoy the processes for themselves.

No previous woodwork experience needed, this course is designed for anyone with an interest in trees, woodlands, design and making for themselves.