Create Your Own Wicker Willow Animal Workshop - Leeds Castle

About

Have you ever fancied trying your hand at willow crafting? As part of our Festival of Craft & Design this September, we have invited the team at Trottiscliffe Willow to host a very special willow crafting workshop, to which you will create a sweet animal sculpture to take home and display with pride!

Your instructor Natalie McLay at the Trottiscliffe Willow has created bespoke willow animal sculptures for over six years, with customers including stately homes across the country, the Royal Horticultural Society and TV companies.

This one-day workshop includes expert instruction, materials and equipment needed to create a small animal of your choice. You could choose to make a hare, squirrel, chicken, heron or piglet but the choice in almost endless!

All guests will finish the day with a unique creation to take away with them ready to display indoors or in the garden. In the unlikely event any guest is unable to complete their sculpture during the course time, materials and instructions will be given to enable them to complete them at home.

This workshop is suitable for anyone over the age of 16 with reasonable hand/wrist strength, but absolutely no experience is needed. Please wear comfortable and old clothes as working with willow can be messy and requires lots of arm movement, so please don’t wear anything too tight.

What you will experience:

Learn all about the world of willow crafting from the expert team at the Trottiscliffe Willow

Create your own small willow animal using materials, equipment, and instructions provided

The workshop starts at 10am and finishes at 5pm, and will be held in the Maiden’s Tower

Refreshments are complimentary (lunch is not included)

About Trottiscliffe Willow:

Trottiscliffe (also called Trosley) Willow is a small, family run business based in rural Kent producing bespoke willow (wicker) animal sculptures handmade by Natalie McLay.

Each piece is individually crafted (with no metal framework), making each animal unique in its appearance, character and personality.

All willow is of a high quality and sourced from the Somerset Levels. Famous for its wetland areas it has continued to produce some of the finest willow around for over 200 years. Willow is harvested during the winter months so provides an important ecological habitat for wildlife during the summer.

If you would like to discover more about Trottiscliffe Willow, please visit: trottiscliffewillow.co.uk

Price: £85 per person

Participants must be an admission ticket holder. Tickets can be purchased at the Visitor Centre upon arrival, or in advance via our website leeds-castle.com/visit.

If you book your admission ticket online ahead of your visit, you’ll receive the best price.