Lorna Singleton
Spelk Basket Maker and Coppice Worker
I am one of the UK’s last remaining ‘swillers’, a specialist in weaving baskets using coppiced oak. I am a graduate of the Bill Hogarth MBE Memorial Apprenticeship Trust, three years of intensive tuition in coppice woodland management and crafts. Using simple hand tools and techniques from generations past, I create baskets based on the traditional patterns from the South Cumbrian region as well as contemporary applications of this historic practice.
In 2017 oak swill basketry was listed as a Critically Endangered Craft in the Radcliffe Redlist of Endangered Crafts and hazel basketry was newly listed as Critically Endangered in the 2021 update.
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Nov. 7, 2022
Spelk Basketry - Lorna Singleton - BS087
Lorna Singleton is a coppice worker, basket maker and green woodworker. Specialising in Spelk Basketry - About Lorna - "I am one of the UK’s last remaining ‘swillers’, a specialist in weaving baskets using coppiced oak. From a workshop tucked away in the Cumbrian woods I weave traditional baskets known as spelk baskets, or swills. I cut and prepare the wood by hand, seeing the whole process through from the tree to the finished product, coppicing the woodland to create a truly renewable resourc...
Guest: Lorna Singleton