The Weaver's House

Tag: coventry museum

  • Here comes the sun!

    Here comes the sun!

    After a chilly and wet spring it was fantastic to see the garden at The Weaver’s House bathed in sunshine for the May Open Day. The old phrase “Cast ne’er a clout ’til May is out” is generally interpreted as advice to keep warm clothes on until May is over*, but winter clouts had certainly been discarded (for now) as visitors enjoyed the calm of the garden on a glorious day.

    It was a busy day with a steady stream of visitors, including a fair number of people on their second (or third!) visit.

    “Always great. Always something new”
    “Well worth the visit again”
    “Lovely walk through history. Volunteers doing a great job”

    Thanks to everyone who visited and all our volunteers. Our next Open Day is Saturday 8th June.

    *For more suggestions on the origin and use of this phrase, visit PhraseFinder.

  • Celebrating our city’s heritage

    Celebrating our city’s heritage

    A blazingly hot weekend for the start of Heritage Open Days in Coventry saw a surprising number of visitors heading to The Weaver’s House and surprisingly, the hot drinks were as popular as ever! One of the times when the coolness of the old buildings are particularly welcome.

    Spinning demonstrations were running in the garden in the shade and some younger visitors even had a go at this very traditional craft. When you go through the process to spin your own bit of wool you realise how long it must have taken to produce cloth.

    Volunteers decamped to the beautiful surroundings of Drapers’ Hall for the final day of the Heritage festival, to take part in an exhibition of local groups. It was a great opportunity to see other organisations from across the city gathered together to acknowledge all that is achieved to preserve and celebrate Coventry’s history, culture and heritage. Thanks to Coventry Society who organised it, and to Drapers’ Hall for the stunning surroundings.

    Open Days are now finished for this year and will restart in the springtime. In the meantime, group tours can be booked subject to availability of volunteers. Full details are at https://theweavershouse.org/group-visits-and-talks

  • Open Day success

    Open Day success

    A medieval beauty awakens after a long slumber!

    It was a long time coming, but the first Open Day of 2021 was enjoyed by visitors and volunteers alike. This was our first day in the best part of two years! We wanted to get back into the swing of things carefully, to benefit both our staff and guests alike, and we were pleased that everything went so smoothly. A huge thank you is owed to all our volunteers and our visitors for making things go so well – THANK YOU!

    • visitors in the garden
    • volunteers in the garden
    • visitors watch a spinning wheel display
    Visitors to our first Open Day of 2021

    We had the lower part of The Weaver’s House open to visit in small groups and the garden had displays and demonstrations to enjoy. We had a steady amount of visitors dropping in through the day, with many people spending quite a bit of time in the garden which is looking stunning at the moment.

    • the Weaver's House with front and back doors open, right through the house
    • visitors in the garden
    • costumed spinner giving demonstration
    We opened both doors of The Weaver’s House for ventilation and had displays and demonstrations in the garden

    We weren’t able to open the small ‘solar’ working room which contains the loom, but as usual, it was free to enter, and we hope people will be able to return to see anything they have missed.

    • the house and the garden
    • bright pink flowers with lots of petals
    • old Pearmain apple tree
    • neat garden paths and hurdle edged beds
    • poppy
    • a mass of purple flowers
    Our lovely medieval garden in full bloom

    As well as display by the spinners, we also had natural dyes, raw wool and eco-printing displays. Find out how to do your own eco-printing here.

    • eco prints of leaves
    • a small loom with blue wool
    • basket of colourful naturally dyed wool

    We intend to open in August and also in September for Heritage Open Days, please stay tuned for announcements!

  • No Open Days during 2020

    No Open Days during 2020

     

     

    After careful consideration we have decided to cancel all Open Days for the rest of 2020 due to the difficulties caused by  Covid-19. We are a small, volunteer-run site and are not able to make Open Days workable under the current conditions. This decision cancels the usual Heritage Opening Days as well.

    We are disappointed not to be able to welcome visitors during this year, and look forward to reopening in 2021.

  • Signs of Spring Open Day is nearly here!

    Signs of Spring Open Day is nearly here!

    Join us this Saturday, 13 April, for our first Open Day of the year with some added springtime fun! Follow a trail, have a go at crafts, and explore the house and garden. Find out how to use natural dyes to colour eggs for Easter with our take-home worksheet.

    Experience how John Croke, a Coventry narrow-loom weaver and his family would have lived and worked including a full-size replica of a medieval loom (Please note the solar room containing the loom is accessed by ladder). Explore the working medieval garden showing the plants that would have been grown for food, flavouring, medicine and household use.

    Pics from our previous Easter Open Days.

    As always, entry is free! We’ll be open from 11am until 4pm.

    Tea, coffee and homemade cakes are served on Open Days.