Artisans of Dartmoor - Book - Page 8
FOREWORD
D
artmoor is a place of ancient landscapes and
deep histories, where time has sculpted not only
the granite tors rising from the moorland, but also the
communities that have made this wild terrain their
home. It’s a place of resilience, where nature’s rhythm
is both a challenge and an inspiration. In Artisans of
Dartmoor, Suzy Bennett captures the spirit of this
rugged beauty and the extraordinary people who
continue to shape it with their hands, knowledge, and
passion for craft.
The artisans featured in this book exemplify what it
means to be both guardians of heritage and pioneers
of creative evolution. They work with materials that
have shaped human civilization for millennia – wood,
metal, clay, fibre, leather – and transform them into
objects of function and beauty. These crafts are not
relics of the past, but vibrant, living practices, adapted
to contemporary life.
Each artisan featured in this book brings a unique
perspective to their craft, shaped by their personal
journey, technical expertise, and deep connection to
Dartmoor itself. We are invited into their workshops
to experience the blacksmith’s hammer forging
red-hot metal, the potter’s hands coaxing elegance
from raw clay, and the willow weaver marrying form
and function through ancestral patterns. Each artisan
embodies patience, skill, and an intimate relationship
with their materials.
This book comes at a crucial moment for the
heritage craft sector. As the number of artisan
practitioners dwindle, many of the skills featured
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within these pages are already endangered. At
Heritage Crafts, we maintain the Red List of
Endangered Crafts, a vital tool that helps identify
the skills that are most at risk of vanishing forever.
The presence of artisans such as Sharif Adams, whose
pole-lathe bowl turning was once on the brink of
extinction, is a beacon of hope. Sharif ’s dedication to
passing on these skills to others has also breathed new
life into the craft, proving that these traditions can not
only survive, but thrive.
In an age of mass production and the rise of AI,
there is something profoundly reassuring about
craft. Handmade objects remind us of the value of
time, labour, and the intimate bond between maker
and material. This is especially true in a place like
Dartmoor, where the land itself seems to shape the
work. Stave basket maker John Williamson cleaves
timber from the very coppices his predecessors have
harvested for generations. Hide tanner Jessie Watson
Brown works with leather in ways that honour the
centuries-old practices of her trade.
What these stories show, is that craft is not just
about preserving old techniques; it’s about adaptation
and evolution. Many of the artisans in this book
are responding to modern challenges – a changing
economy, the environmental impact of their materials,
or consumers’ expectations. This is precisely what
makes these crafts so vital.
Another important aspect this book highlights, is
the community that sustains craft. No maker exists
in isolation. There is a profound generosity among
Foreword
