Dozens of once-common heritage crafts, including Welsh thatching and ship figurehead carving, have been added to the UK’s expanding “red list” of critically endangered skills, according to new findings from the charity Heritage Crafts.
The list reveals that the number of crafts at the highest risk has increased from 62 to 72 in just two years. Meanwhile, the “endangered” category has also grown, now totaling 93. These designations highlight trades that are struggling to survive due to a range of pressures.
Despite the bleak outlook for many, the report offers a small measure of optimism. No crafts have gone extinct since the last update, and several traditional skills—such as hazel basket making and side saddle making—are experiencing renewed interest.
Mary Lewis, the lead researcher, pointed to a combination of rising costs, limited training opportunities, and increasing market pressures as key factors threatening the future of many traditional crafts.
She explained that trades like cut-crystal glassmaking, pewter working, and organ building are facing heightened vulnerability. Among the newly listed critically endangered practices is Welsh vernacular thatching. According to the report, thatched roofs in Wales are increasingly adopting English characteristics, losing the unique rounder form associated with traditional Welsh methods.
Ship figurehead carving is another craft at risk, with only a few master artisans still active—and no trainees to follow in their footsteps.
Silversmithing is also under pressure, not due to a lack of interest, but because the skills that support it are fading.
Jackie Tear, managing director of British Silverware in Sheffield, explained: “But the issue is all the associated skill sets and trades that go with it are lost or being lost.”
She added, “There are lots of apprenticeship schemes at colleges but none of them are actually teaching the crafts. They’re learning how to use a lathe but they’re not learning how to use it for something like our industry because it’s a very niche.” Tear noted that only a handful of people remain who are skilled in buffing, a key finishing process in silverware production.
Not all news is grim. Pole lathe bowl turning—a method that dates back to Viking times—has seen a revival.
Sharif Adams, a practitioner of the technique, said: “A pole lathe is one of the earliest sort of machines that humanity ever used. The Vikings used them to turn their cups and bowls.”
“As the bowl spins, the tool leaves a very fine groove, which is similar in some ways to the sort of texture on thrown pottery. And they don’t shine in the same way as machined bowls. They look more earthy, more rustic.”
