Charlie moved into the terrace earlier this year and has got involved with taking care of our medieval style garden:
I moved into one of the flats next to The Weaver’s House recently, and find it absolutely amazing. The fact that it is so quirky and quiet considering where it is within the city is unusual. In the evening and into the night when work permits, I sit in the garden and enjoy the bird song and occasionally see a fox on the prowl.
The recently installed fence panels, thanks to National Lottery funding
The building itself is very unique and I really enjoy living here, and being allowed to use the gardens to relax in is an absolute treat after a hard day working.
The medieval style garden
Along with Tina, the volunteers coordinator, I have been keeping the gardens in check; mowing the lawns and weeding, along with general custodianship of the grounds. I feel privileged to have been allowed to move within a unique community. I have also been researching The Weaver’s House and surrounding areas from the time period; the plants and root vegetables from around the time period in contrast to how we live today, and how times and people evolve, and have found it very interesting.
Above, some of the gardening that Charlie has been doing recently at the site.
We are grateful to Charlie for his help in maintaining the garden during the busy growing season, and for supplying the photos.
Sara Maycock is a weaver and dyer with lots of experience of creating and using naturally based dyes. In this blog, she shows you how to make eco prints using plants and a few simple pieces of equipment.
Eco printing is a form of natural dyeing where dyes are extracted from plant material direct on to paper or fabric – creating an imprint of the plant in some way. It is very unpredictable – what you see is not always what you get – which makes it exciting and disappointing in equal measure! The best way to approach it is to be experimental and curious about possibilities – a beautifully vibrant colour can be a total wash-out. Equally a drab looking leaf can produce an unexpectedly vibrant result.
Either way, it is the natural world giving up its secrets and allowing us an insight into the complexities of nature, so be prepared to go with it and accept whatever outcomes you produce. They’re all valid and a great way to produce a botanic record of your garden as an alternative method to drawing and painting. The images are also not always going to be sharp, as the dye bleeds into the wet paper during the boiling process so the results can vary from sharp through to impressionistic!
You will need:
• 2 plain bathroom tiles about 6” x 6” – these are used to trap the paper and plant material between them. The tiles keep the paper from disintegrating during the boiling process and maintain the contact between plant and paper so that a print is produced. Anything non-porous and flat will do the same job – metal plates or whatever, but it does need to withstand boiling water.
• At least 4 bull dog clips or similar which are big enough to clamp the tiles containing the paper and plant material tightly together – ideally 6 or 8 clips if you have them. The tighter you can fix them, the more successful the result.
• Pieces of cartridge or lining paper (used for wallpapering) per print, cut to the size of your tile. You could use any paper that is reasonably substantial and won’t fall apart on boiling, but do avoid a shiny surface as this could adversely affect the absorption of the plant dye. Photo mount board cut to size works well but I would reserve this for when you feel more confident with the process.
• An old stainless steel pan with a lid – into which the tiles will fit comfortably with the clips around the edges.
• Tap water
• Newspaper or old towel
Method:
Collect your plant material:
Choose interesting leaf shapes, coloured flower heads – but nothing too bulky as they will be pressed flat by compressing them between the tiles. They can make interesting 3D impressions in the paper as part of the process if they’re not totally flat. Again – experiment!
⚠ As usual when working in the garden be careful when selecting and handling flowers and plants as some can be poisonous or irritants, for example the sap of the rue plant can burn or cause a rash. So if you are not an experienced gardener check what you are picking first. ⚠
Layer as follows:
• one tile placed smooth side up
• a piece of paper the size of your tile
• plant material carefully laid out
• second piece of paper
• second tile smooth side down
Once you have this ‘sandwich’ of layers, clamp them tightly together with the bulldog clips around the edges.
NOTE:
You can process several layers of plant material within one pair of tiles. Just separate each plant layer from the next, with an extra piece of paper to avoid the images bleeding into each other – again it’s trial and error and relies on bull dog clips being large enough to grip the package together.
Alternatively – if your pan is deep enough and you have enough tiles and clips you can process several single ‘packages’ in one go. I have a large fish kettle and can do nine in one go.
Fill the pan with cold water to generously cover the pair of tiles, cover with the lid and heat until boiling, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for an hour.
Once finished, there’s no need to wait – but BE CAREFUL OF BOILING WATER – pour it away carefully and wait for the tile package to cool a bit before unpacking it for the big reveal!
The paper between the tiles will be saturated, so peel it back carefully and gently remove the plant material to reveal the image – and then lay the paper out to dry on newspaper or a cotton towel (basically something absorbent) – you may want to put something heavy on top to help the paper to dry flat, but be cautious of the paper sticking.
You will get a positive and a negative image – two for the price of one! – which will have subtly different qualities. Here are a few of the eco prints I have made with flowers and plants from The Weaver’s House garden, including the famous dye plant woad.
Woad in flower – hints of the blue dye in the leaves – but also pink
Forget Me Not
Woad in flower
Aquilegia
USE OF MORDANTS (fixatives) in the dye pot: Improves the fastness of the dye and also alters the dye tones:
Alum – can improve the clarity of the results – gives a yellowish cast
Iron water – saddens/darkens the results – an acquired taste
⚠ Be careful as some mordants are poisonous! ⚠
Here are some eco prints I have made on an old blanket during lockdown.
There are lots of on-line resources if you search for eco-printing, including this fantastic video:
We were fortunate to be given funding from #CelebrateNationalLottery25 to buy some much needed items to improve our garden. To celebrate, we held an all-welcome gardening day with the aim of tidying the garden, planting trees and installing our new woven fencing panels.
We were joined by some new volunteers as well as some regulars, and all worked hard in both the house and the garden, as we had to dodge the raindrops a few times. We did, however, make significant headway with the overgrown gardens, planted a medlar and a hazel tree, transformed the fence into a Medieval marvel and left the site looking markedly better than when we arrived.
We even had a flying visit from BBC radio on the hunt for clues for their Gold & Treasure feature!
All in all a satisfying day which has seen the garden metamorphosed into a much more Tudoresque state.
Showing off our new lovely garden features should have been the focus of our upcoming April Open Day, but due to the Covid-19 outbreak, we have taken the decision to cancel both that and the May Open Day.
This is very disappointing of course, but we must put the welfare of our volunteers and visitors first. We look forward to welcoming you all again in the future.
Sunday 15 March – 11am until 4pm, (drop in during these times, but please let us know in advance via volunteers@theweavershouse.org)
We are excited to have been awarded a grant by #CelebrateNationalLottery25 as they celebrate 25 years of donations to worthy causes.
Come and help us get our medieval-style garden spring-ready! Our beds and borders need a make-over, and thanks to the National Lottery, we have been able to purchase some much-needed woven fencing panels.
Now we need to install them and make our garden ready for our season of Open Days.
This is a hands-on day, so there will be plenty of opportunity to get involved. Spend the day with us, or drop in for a couple of hours, it all helps. There will be hot drinks and some of our legendary cake provided, as well as soup for lunch if you are spending the day.
No need to be an expert, just enthusiastic – bring gardening gloves if you have them and dress appropriately for being outside.
To get involved, or if you have any questions, please email volunteers@theweavershouse.org Please mention where you heard about the day.
On our July 2019 Open Day, we invited special guests Coventry And District Archaeological Society (CADAS) who offered to dig a test pit on site.
Here is their report:
An area at the rear of the terrace was selected for the excavation of a one metre square test pit.
This was to confirm whether or not any archaeological features existed in this area of the garden, prior to intended work within the area.
The excavation took place during an open day, during which members of the public were able to observe the work as it progressed, and examine any finds.
Following excavation of the pit to the natural horizon, no features of an archaeological nature were found.
Due to time constraints the pit was excavated using a garden spade, with a trowel used to clean up after each spit (spade depth) was emptied, so a photograph could be taken.
Spit 1. Consisted of a dark brown loam soil.
Spit 2. The same as Spit 1.
Spit 3. Dark grey/brown loam soil.
Below spit 3 was the natural geology of the site consisting of flood plain alluvium (sand), and water rounded pebbles and cobbles. This is consistent with the site being in close proximity to the River Sherbourne. A small sondage was excavated in the base of the pit to a depth of 40cm with no change in the geology.
The total depth of the pit to the natural geology was 52cm.
Spit 1 and 2. These appear to be a single fill. Finds from them consist of mainly post medieval, with a few medieval pottery sherds, animal bone/teeth, a pipe bowl and stem pieces, a single piece of brown bottle glass, a copper alloy button and a damaged part folded circular copper alloy disc (a microscope examination of the disc revealed no markings or lettering on either side of it).
Spit 3. Finds were medieval pottery and an oxidised metal nail.
The finds are consistent with what one would expect to find from the Spon End area, with its long history of occupation over the centuries.
The pottery is all common domestic ware that one would expect to find in the household of the common working class weaver etc, through to the small shopkeepers of the 19th century.
Pipe bowls and stem are found everywhere, dating from the immediate post medieval period through to the 19th C. Due to the fragility of the item, they were just discarded wherever they broke.
Animal bone is nearly always found in early urban environments due to it being thrown out onto the midden heap for later use as compost, or simply buried in pits in the garden.
Metal finds are normally as a result of accidental loss, deliberately being discarded or breaking off from items.
The pit was immediately backfilled following completion.
The finds were retained by the Trust.
The excavation was led by Adrian Adams of CADAS, with help from Peterson and David from the Trust.
Washing of the finds was carried out by Christine Adams.
Our thanks to CADAS for their generosity in carrying out the dig and providing the report.
Our August Open Day will be on Saturday 17th from 11am until 4pm.
The house and garden will be open to explore, plus a fun ‘rub-a-bug’ colouring activity trail in our garden which will be in full bloom. Find out about the herbs and plants that were used for cooking, medicine and more. The Weavers’ Workshop will have a crafty make-and-take activity featuring woven snails and bugs.
A snail made on weaving sticks by a young visitor
Refreshments will be available, and entry is free.
This is the last Open Day where you can see the loom, as this is not open during Heritage Open Days in September.
The first Weaver’s House Open Day this year saw the house spring to life on a sunny if slightly chilly April morning. Visitors were impressed and appreciative of the restoration project and the extra activities provided by our volunteers. There were tours and talks, special Easter themed cakes, a spinning demonstration and an exhibition of dyes and samples. Younger visitors enjoyed an Easter trail, crafts and colouring.
Our garden is well and truly coming to life now spring is here, and the heritage apple trees which we put in a few years ago are in blossom.
The Leathercoat Russet
With visitor comments on the knowledge, enthusiasm and welcoming approach of the volunteers, it was a shining start to the season!
In just a few weeks, the next Open Day will be part of the May Day weekend. Special guest reenactor group Coventry Militia will bring history to life on site, demonstrating arms and armour of the War of the Roses. There will also be some late medieval tabletop games to try, and as this was the period when the royal court was held in Coventry, visitors can find out about the importance of the city during this period.
This one-off event will be on Sunday 5 May, running from 11am until 4pm. You can also keep up with the latest from The Weaver’s House on Facebook and Twitter. Come and say hello!
Our third Heritage Crafts Day was the warmest and sunniest yet, with visitors taking particular time to enjoy the garden. The tours in the house offered a welcome coolness, and of course our tearoom volunteers were on hand to offer refreshments! This time we were joined by The Heritage Bakehouse in the tearoom providing an array of tasty cakes including this lovely chocolate and banana loaf and of course, their famous Coventry Godcake. The Heritage Bakehouse have made over 25k Godcakes… not all for our Open Day, but in the last five or so years!
Coventry Woodcarvers Association joined us once again to showcase some of their amazing creations including an on site demonstration of carving. Spot the Coventry connection!
We were also delighted that Coventry brewers Byatt’s returned to talk about brewing methods and invite visitors to sample this year’s special Motofest Multigrade. Just released, and only available until Motofest, we were among the very first to sample it (and it was delicious). As one of the cottages in the terrace was once used as a workshop to make cars, it also seemed very fitting to have it on site!
Jane Cobbett brought beautiful textiles including quilting to display, and we are excited that we will be hosting a special exhibition of work by Jane’s textile group in June. The War & Pieced Patchwork Exhibition takes place on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 June 2018 from 11am until 4pm at The Weaver’s House. It’s part of Warwickshire Open Studios and is free to visit… and there will be cake! Find out more here.
So that was May then, a very busy day, for volunteers, guests and visitors, who made full use of one of the first hot days of the year! Roll on June, when our next Open Day is on Saturday 16, for tours and talks, tea and cake, heritage and history!
Hard to believe it’s nearly the end of March especially with the flurry of wintry weather that we’ve seen throughout this month. The Weaver’s House looks stunning in the snow, here are some atmospheric shots taken by one of the residents from the snow at the start of March 2018:
We were a bit concerned looking at the forecasts that our house tidy-up and gardening day might be thwarted by weather, but in the end it was a fairly clear if cold day, and we even had a visit from Keith from BBC Coventry & Warwickshire mid-clean!
Once the garden was sorted we headed into the city centre to enjoy some of the fantastic Shop Front Festival, where we pretended to be Pac-Man, got chased by sentient traffic cones and admired an exhibition of vintage photos of Coventry. On the way we stopped to have a look at the Spon End Subway Consultation, see if you can spot our contributions of where we had been and were headed!
As we head in to April we are really looking forward to the first Open Day of the year – it seems like a long time since our last public Open Days in September. We’ll be open at 11am on Saturday 14 April, until 4pm. We recommend arriving by 3.30pm at the latest, although we can’t guarantee there will be any cake left by then!
Our June Open Day coincided with World Wide Knit in Public Day, so we invited knitters to come along and take part alongside our usual activities. It was a warm day, but it was pretty windy, so we tethered the gazebo securely and ensconced the knitters and their handiwork inside.
Knitting central in the gazebo!
The knitters brought plenty of examples of their wonderful work, (and yes, there was also some crochet).
After the success of our previous open day it was really lovely to again share the space with more creative crafters.
We had a fantastic day with enthusiastic visitors leaving fabulous feedback:
“Had a great time worth a visit. Lovely people beautiful building and gardens”
“Fascinating 15th century medieval terrace house in Spon End. The staff are welcoming, friendly and informative. A lovely garden with weavers and knitters showing you how to make craft work. The tea room again has friendly staff selling a lovely selection of cakes and hot / cold beverages. We had a tour of the house which was informative and fascinating. Well worth a visit.”
Visitors enjoying the sun in the garden.
The weaving project, come and have a go!
More homemade cakes.
“Had an absolutely wonderful time, interesting conversation & demonstration of spinning and very informative & lively talk by Tina in the Weavers House itself. Great time in the garden too ?”
“Fantastic see you all soon, and thank you again for giving me a new place of interest and new interests ??”
The garden is certainly looking full of life at the moment. Plenty of time to see it in full bloom over the course of our next few Open Days, including our Tenth Anniversary celebrations – details soon!
