The Heritage Craft Community
at Garlinge Green Road, Chartham CT4 5RU
The Heritage Craft Community aims to encourage everyone to discover the joys of creating something beautiful, or practical, preferably both. The Craft Dome is the first group to join such a network.
NEW
Are you a craft worker?
Are you in a group?
Join the BILLBOARD and let people know. This is a FREE service!
The Dome in progress
The Seed of a Beginning
The Dome, which is the first user of the Community, is the dream of Jenny Oliver, who currently owns the Kentish Dyes website. Following the onset of increasing illness, she wanted to create something which could last longer than she was likely to, and to encourage local people to enjoy the fulfilment of making something practical. Being both a scientist and having a longstanding interest in natural dyes, she started with plant colours, modifying them guided by her knowledge of chemistry. She also studied design technology with the Open University, and was inspired by the elegance and economics of geodesic designs.
Inside the Dome 1 - The Open Day
Not just coloured wool…
The project took some time to commence, let alone build, but now things are moving. Initially, natural dye projects were able to take place through the sponsorship of the Wye Community Farm, funded in part by the local board for the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the Kent Downs area. Earlier still, while the Wye Community Farm was still in Wye rather than Garlinge Green (Chartham, Canterbury), dye projects occasionally took place promoted by Della Newman ** at the Wool Shed near Hastingleigh.
Della’s contribution and inspiration was considerable, having mentored many at the Wool Shed through basic wool processing to producing spinning, pegloom weaving, felting, producing patterned knitted goods and more. She left an impressive legacy, leaving to join her mother in Wales in order to develop a similar project there. (See below)
