Mary will give an illustrated talk on the Arts & Crafts movement in the Cotswolds from the 1890s, looking at what made it different and special. Focusing on key communities - C R Ashbee and the Guild of Handicraft in Chipping Campden and Gimson and the Barnsleys in the south Cotswolds - she will discuss their approaches to design and making. Why has their work remained relevant to designers and makers including Alan Evans up to the present day? 

Formerly the Curator at Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, and a nationally important expert, writer and lecturer on the Arts & Crafts movement, Mary is a key member of the ‘Earth Fire Iron’ exhibition team, the Chair of Trustees for Court Barn Museum of Craft and Design and author of a significant number of publications on the Cotswold Arts and Crafts including co-author of ‘Ernest Gimson Arts and Crafts Designer and Architect’ (Yale University Press, 2019).

Tickets £10, booking required. Book online or call 01453 763394.

This event is linked to the Earth Fire Iron programme and takes place in the BABA event marquee behind the Museum in the Park. It is part of the BABA (British Artist Blacksmiths Association) AGM Weekend & Conference 2025.

Image: 'Charley Downer and Bill Thornton, blacksmiths at Chipping Campden, 1906', copyright The Guild of Handicraft Trust.