Durham City Freemen 500th Anniversary

On May 14th 2022, the Butchers' Guild celebrated their 500th anniversary. The Butchers' Guild is one of eight surviving Guilds which form the Companies of the Durham City Freemen. Originally there were 16 Guilds of which the Weavers and Websters were the first in 1450. The last Guild to be accepted were the Dyers and Listers in 1667. 

In 1167, Bishop Pudsey granted the first charter to the City of Durham. As the County palatinate of Durham it was unique in that the borough charter was granted by the Prince Bishop rather than the reigning monarch. In the 14th century, trading associations were formed to regulate and control the trades in the city. The first recorded charter was in 1450 for the Weavers and Webster and by the later 15th century there were 16 Guilds. The Guild Hall fronts the Market Place and was built in 1535 but the present classical façade was designed in 1754. 

Nowadays the Freemen can be any man or women of 18 years and over who has any of the qualifications required is eligible to be admitted to the Freemen of the City of Durham. They have ancient privileges which include:

• the right of herbage on the Sands
• the right to hold meetings in the Guild Hall
• the right to have a stall in the market free of charge.  

The Guild Hall room has displays of various items connected to the Guilds including the crests of the Guilds. 

Crest of Butchers' Guild

The Weavers and Webster Crest

It was difficult to photograph because of the sunlight streaming in from the from the balcony window.  The motto for the Guild is  'Weave Truth with Trust.'

The Durham Guild of Spinners Weavers and Dyers were invited to join in the day of celebration for the Butcher's Guild. We set up in the Guild Hall. 

I wove a patterned band.

Diane is one of the spinners

Gary Bankhead is an underwater archaeologist who dives in the River Wear and catalogues all his finds.    https://diveintodurham.uk/gary_bankhead.htm

Some of Gary's recent finds

His table of recent finds was fascinating and included medieval spindle whorls.

On the day, the Mayor, the High Sheriff and the Lord Lieutenant arrived and there was a guest reception. There was a Town Crier in the Guild Hall who went out onto the balcony during the course of the day to announce various events. Outside in the Market Place, there were musical performers dressed in the costume of the middle ages and also Morris dancers. 

Morris Dancers

A butcher gave a demonstration of butchery on his stall outside in the market Place. 

Stall under the balcony

We had a lovely day and enjoyed meeting the people who came into the Town Hall to see the displays.

Spinning in the Guild Hall

I hope that you enjoyed this glimpse of historic Durham.

Susan J Foulkes June 2022

Durham Guild Open Weaving Day

The Durham Guild of Spinning Weaving and Dyeing had their Open Weaving Day on Saturday 15th October 2016 at St Oswald's Institute on Church Road in Durham City.

Here is a link to the Guild diary for 2016  http://www.durhamguild.com/Diary2015.htm_24.htm

Guild members were weaving using a variety of techniques and visitors encouraged to have a go at any skill they wish to try. Braiding, inkle loom weaving, table loom weaving, Kumihimo - there are so many techniques.

Everything was set up before we opened and there was a lovely display of work: finished work, work in progress and a variety of methods of weaving.

One side of the hall looking very colourful.

I took some ready warped rigid heddles so that visitors could try band weaving using a backstrap.

My Swedish band loom was warped so that visitors could weave a friendship bracelet. I used 16/2 cotton used double so that the band is 1.6 cm in width. The weft is black cottolin. I put on a very long warp so that anyone who  wove could cut off their piece to take home.  This proved very popular and all the warp was used.

My Swedish band loom set up with a long warp

I was pleased that we did have so many visitors who were interested and the warp was nearly finished by the end of the day.  One surprising visitor was the photographer from the local newspaper the Northern Echo. We had all just stopped for lunch but I was posed for a photograph with my loom.

I bought a lovely little bow loom at Tacoma to use on this weaving open day for the Durham Guild. Someone immediately wanted to try and became very proficient in weaving with the little beads as embellishment.  I am going to warp it up and take it along to the next Guild meeting as it is such a draw, easy to make and so easy to use.

The weaving is finished. 

A friendship bracelet.

Many Guild members had brought work to do and looms for visitors to try.

Sue is weaving an interesting tapestry.

The lettering is lovely.

She is using a Roman inscription.

There is a  subtle use of natural colours.


Douglas brought his trusty table loom and is in the process of warping it with lovely colours to make another tartan.

A tartan warp.

The wonderful Ashford Knitters loom was also being used and showing how very versatile this simple loom can be. It is such a comfortable weaving position.

lacy weaving on the Knitters Loom.

The Louet table loom was there with some experimental weaving by Norma.

Eight shaft table loom 

There was a small display of bookmarks from the National Exhibition.  Every Guild could submit bookmarks and it is a great opportunity for a variety of crafts to display their skills in miniature.

Inkle looms were ready warped for hands on experience of weaving.  Ann brought along two inkle looms and some portable kumihimo equipment. All fueled by mugs of tea!

Inkle looms ready to try and simple portable kumihimo equipment brought by Ann.

There were lots of examples of finished pieces of weaving for visitors to handle.

Note the Navajo spindle and expertly made inkle loom.

And of course, for those members who do not weave, there was the spinners corner.

Busy bee corner.

My display of Woven Bands from around the Baltic.

I brought along my display which shows the different woven bands from around the Baltic.  The stunning wooden heddle which I am using at the moment was made by Gunnar Karro from Estonia. I asked him to make a motif from the White Horse in Uffington. He sells his wares on Etsy and I can recommend the quality of his products.

The curved shuttle has a matching motif to the heddle and there is an elegant stand for them both. I wove a patterned band in cotton and made it into a guitar strap which is shown next to the heddle. It has nine pattern threads.

It was a very busy day and we did have some people who have joined the Guild as a result.

Susan J Foulkes November 2017

Durham Guild Open Day for spinning

Using a spinning wheel

Our Open Day for Spinning was a chance for us to demonstrate and teach.

Drop spindle spinning

One visitor was Hannah, a skilled spinner who loves all things to do with textiles.  She showed her considerable skills by using a spinning wheel with which she was not familiar.  Her spun yarn is very fine and even.

Hannah spinning expertly

a very fine yarn

More spinning

But not every one spins, so several members brought their looms.

Jane has an Ashford Knitters Loom on which she is weaving a leno scarf.

Leno lace weaver

Her yarn is a crepe vintage and it will be very interesting to see the final scarf.

Yarn from New Mexico

She loves her Ashford loom and brought along a selection of the scarves that she has woven. These two scarves were from yarn brought in a charity shop.  The yarn came from Hope, New Mexico and has a lovely feel.

Even plain weave can produce some wonderful effects.  Look at this clasped weft scarf with the wavy pattern.It is really unusual.

The wavy line is produced by the 'clasped weft' technique.

Douglas loves tartan and brought his four shaft table loom to finish threading his latest piece. He only weaves tartans and is a knowledgeable specialist.

Threading takes time and patience.

Hannah's mum and her unique crocheted blanket.

Hannah's mum was crocheting a beautifully designed blanket.  The inspiration was Seaham harbour and beach.  The colours and pattern are lovely and this unique design is for two special friends who appreciate the love and care which goes into handmade articles.

A tapestry piece.

The Guild has many other skills as well.  Here is a tapestry piece.

The Guild had a busy day and we enjoyed meeting new people interested in craft.

Weaving Open Day.

Durham Guild Weaving Open Day on Saturday 15th October 2016

Our next open day is about Weaving and is on Saturday October 15th in St Oswald's Institute. Put it in your diary.

There will be a number of looms ready warped and plenty of people on hand to help.  Do come along.

I will be bringing my backstrap and a number of heddles ready warped for anyone to try. One loom I will be bringing is my Swedish Band Loom. This was the first loom that I bought once I became hooked on weaving.

My first loom

Weave a friendship bracelet.

To see this loom in action go to my YouTube video:  Five Ways of Weaving Narrow Bands  
https://youtu.be/ZzhuDomPtxE

I will warp up this loom so that visitors can have a go and weave a friendship bracelet.

I am researching friendship bracelets at the moment and should have a good supply of examples to show. Here is my first idea which I wove on my Swedish band loom.

drawdown for friendship bracelet

This band is woven in 16/2 Swedish cotton used double using four colours.  The weft is a blue cottolin yarn.  There are 35 warp ends in total.  The band is 1.4 cm in width.

Close up of woven band

To finish the bracelet, the warp ends were plaited.  At one end, I divided the warp ends into two groups and plaited them separately.  The ends were whipped to finish.

At the other end, I divided the warp ends into two groups but only plaited them for a short length.  I then overlapped the two groups and plaited them as one.  This gave a loop at one end for fastening the bracelet.  Here is the result.

Friendship bracelet

I love the effect of a wavy stripes.


To see the another Swedish loom in action at Skansen, the open air museum in Stockholm, go to Slöjda med Skansen: Bandvävning   https://youtu.be/jPeBqxW6ZUw

Next post:

My next post in April will be about the colour green.  Do follow my blog to get updates.

Happy Weaving

Susan J Foulkes April 2016