Heritage Trust Network (HTN) held their annual conference titled “Recovery, sustainability and wellbeing” in Coventry on 19th and 20th November 2021. We were delighted to show them around The Weaver’s House.
HTN exists to help member organisations share their knowledge, skills and experiences as they pursue their own heritage restoration and preservation projects. Their Chief Executive Officer, David Tittle, has a wealth of experience in the field and was one of our founding Trustees (Spon End Building Preservation Trust). He was keen for delegates to see historic sites in Coventry and could not resist approaching us to see if we would like to host some visitors.
Naturally, we were happy to oblige and were delighted with the approving comments received. Hopefully, we will have provided some inspiration for fledgling projects that it can all work out well after the hard work.
David Tittle outside the HouseMaureen gives a tour to HTN members
“Lovely garden, knowledgeable volunteers, couldn’t ask for more”
Thanks to David of Leamington Spa who left that particular comment for last weekend, and indeed, it sums up the weekend most aptly. We weren’t sure how the weekend would go, it was our first Heritage Open Days in two years. However we had a steady stream of visitors over the two days, rather quieter than in previous years but given the ongoing situation, just right. Thanks go to our volunteers who provided the same high quality experience as ever, and now, in costume!
Volunteers greet our very first visitor of the weekend. The costumes were made by our Chair and Volunteers Co-ordinator, Tina.
We were lucky with the weather, the garden looked lovely, and the spinners and weavers provided demonstrations throughout the weekend.
Heritage Open Days at The Weaver’s House, September 2021
We had some lovely comments, not only recorded in our Visitors’ Book but via social media:
“Thank you for a lovely tour. Your volunteers are wonderful and knowledgeable.”
“Really interesting to visit this morning. Thank you.”
“I can highly recommend it. A hidden gem just a short walk from the city centre.”
“I loved to hear about the story of the houses there, and my weaver son could have a go on a loom. It was worth visiting.”
That concluded our Open Days for this year. We hope to be open much more for 2022 – let’s raise a cup to that!
The house will be open to the public for Heritage Open Days on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th September, 2021.
For all of these, the opening times will be 10am until 4pm. All are free entry. These are our last planned open days until 2022.
The lower part of The Weaver’s House will be open to visit in small groups, and the garden will be open, and still looking lovely at this time of the year.
Please be aware the small ‘solar’ working room which contains the loom will not be open, and we are not opening the tea room this year. Masks are recommended for the indoor areas as these are small spaces.
We’re so pleased that our first Open Day of 2021 went well, and are delighted that we are also able to open up for further days, including the fantastic Heritage Open Days in Coventry.
The Weaver’s House will next be open on Saturday 21st August 2021. This will be free to visit and will feature the ‘rub a bug’ brass rubbing type activity for children which was very popular last time we included it. There will also be some Medieval games to try.
The house will then reopen for Heritage Open Days on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th September, 2021.
For all of these, the opening times will be 10am until 4pm. All are free entry.
The lower part of The Weaver’s House will be open to visit in small groups, and the garden will be open, and still looking lovely at this time of the year.
Please be aware the small ‘solar’ working room which contains the loom will not be open, and we are not opening the tea room this year. Masks are recommended for the indoor areas as these are small spaces.
Good news for fans of Coventry’s heritage, we will be holding an Open Day in July 2021!
We are pleased that we will be opening to the public, incredibly to us, this will be for the first time since September 2019. This will be the first time we have been open since making our improvements to the garden, which began last year. With all the challenges that are still present, we have only set one day so far to test the waters. We hope to add more of course, and we are very much looking forward to welcoming people back on site to see our medieval house and garden!
Here are the essentials that you need to know if you are planning to visit us in July, followed by an FAQ section below, please read so you know what to expect from us and what we need visitors to be aware of:
When: Saturday 10 July, from 10am until 4pm
What: A free Open Day
Where: The Weaver’s House, Coventry: Garden and selected areas of the house
What will be there?
The Weaver’s House will be open for limited amounts of visitors. We will have demonstrations of the traditional craft of spinning and a display about the loom and weaving in the garden.
Visitors will be able to enter The Weaver’s House to view the two rooms on the ground floor, in small groups at a time. We will be running talks by our knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers in our Tudor garden area.
We aren’t able to run this Open Day in our usual way, but we are hoping to provide an interesting experience for visitors who join us. Our Open Days are always free, so visitors can return and see more another time.
What additional measures are in place?
Visitors enter the house wearing a mask, this can be removed in the garden area.
All visitors sign in via the Track and Trace app or a paper alternative.
Hand gel is provided in the entrance area.
We will be limiting the number of people on site at one time.
A one-way system is in place where the nature of the site allows.
Talks will take place outside.
Do I need to book in advance?
No, it is drop in, however we will be limiting numbers on site.
We will be closing at 4pm, please bear this in mind.
Entry is free but donations are appreciated.
Can I see the replica loom?
Unfortunately, it will not be possible to open the small upstairs ‘solar’ room containing the loom. It is simply too small to manage access and ventilation to accommodate visitors.
What facilities are open?
Toilets including accessible toilet will be open.
Cold drinks will be available, we are unable to provide other refreshments on this occasion. We are a short walk from the city centre.
We hope this has answered any questions that you may have about coming to visit us, but if you do have any further queries, please get in touch with us. Please use the contact form on the website or social channels if possible, it is usually quicker than using the phone number. We look forward to welcoming you.
Usually at this point we would be recapping a full year of Open Days and other events at The Weaver’s House.
The year started well with the announcement of ‘Moving Blue’ the City of Culture colour based on the famous ‘Coventry Blue.’ The Weaver’s House team were involved in the research process for the development of the colour and were excited to see the results come to life across the city.
Moving Blue on The Weaver’s House
With a #CelebrateNationalLottery25 funded community garden day kicking off activities in March, and the loom rewarped, all looked set for a memorable year of events.
As we know, 2020 would be memorable for very different reasons.
Throughout this challenging year The Weaver’s House and Weavers’ Workshop provided online resources for seasonal craft projects and reading including:
An interesting detail on a famous Coventry building, but do you recognise it?
Lockdown Rainbow
Touching the past
A sample of this year’s posts
We also carried out some essential site maintenance whilst we remained closed this year, we made costumes and revised our Family History book, amongst other things. So work has continued behind the scenes.
We hope to welcome visitors again soon, and will post our plans for 2021 in the New Year. And speaking of the New Year, perhaps it is time to revive the tradition of wassailing? Wassail comes from the Old English was hál, literally: be hale/healthy).
Traditionally it is a beverage of hot mulled cider, drunk as an integral part of the English Medieval Christmastide rituals, to bring a good apple harvest in the coming year. Perhaps some New Year wassailing will bring everyone better fortunes in 2021.
Wishing you a healthy and happy Christmas from all at The Weaver’s House.
