The National Trust and Bishopsland Educational Trust are delighted to announce that we are working in partnership to relocate Bishopsland from its current site in South Oxfordshire, where it has been operating for thirty years. The new site is Hills Yard in Buscot, part of the National Trust’s Buscot and Coleshill Estate in Oxfordshire. Breathing new life into this National Trust property at Buscot, Bishopsland plans to commence activities from the site in summer 2024. We are excited to be aligning with the Coleshill Heritage and Rural Skills Centre on the estate.
Christian Walker, General Manager Buscot & Coleshill Estates, “Bishopsland’s focus on teaching the traditional heritage skills of a master silversmith adds a dynamic new string to the work of the National Trust’s Heritage and Rural Skills Centre at Coleshill and builds on the estate’s rich past as a creative hub inspiring creativity alongside tradition”.
Howard Dellar, Chair of Trustees Bishopsland Educational Trust, “We are delighted to be working with the National Trust and Buscot and Coleshill Estates and to have found a beautiful, flexible, adaptable location for our workshops, offices, incubation spaces, Tools Library and students. Working alongside other heritage and skills organisations on the estate was a major factor in our selection of the site. By entering this agreement with the National Trust, we are securing the future of our programme of professional craft skills training”.
About Bishopsland Educational Trust
Bishopsland is an internationally recognised and accredited charity dedicated to the training and education of emerging makers in the craft of silversmithing in the UK. As a charity, we have nurtured the careers of over 200 silversmiths and jewellers over the last 30 years, the majority of whom have gone on to develop sustainable businesses in the UK. Our one- or two-year immersive residential training programme provides a much-needed bridge between full-time education and a career as a maker. Today, our society of Fellows are some of the foremost craftspeople in their field. Bishopsland is supported through the generous patronage of our donors and supporters. If you would like to support this initiative and help protect heritage crafts for the future, we would love to hear from you.
About the National Trust
As Europe’s largest conservation charity, the National Trust looks after nature, beauty and history for everyone to enjoy. We do it with the help of millions of members, volunteers, staff, and donors. Without this, we couldn’t care for the miles of coastline, woodlands, countryside and the hundreds of historic buildings, gardens and precious collections we protect.
About the Buscot & Coleshill Heritage & Rural Skills Centre
The Buscot & Coleshill Estate has established a centre that supports professional heritage skills by providing awareness, courses, facilities and workshops to deliver the vision of a creative estate. This is routed in the estate’s creative and innovative past whilst looking to champion skills for the future.
For more information and images please contact:
E: c.murdoch@bishopsland.org.uk
W: bishopsland.org.uk
W: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/oxfordshire-buckinghamshire-berkshire/buscot-and-coleshill-estates