For any artist who is intrigued by abstraction but isn’t sure how to go about it, this course offers a novel and stimulating approach to the genre, often employed by…

Add dimension to your stitchwork and create more texture in your crochet. Learn the secrets of blending colour whilst working with groups of stiches, clusters and spikes! Develop your skills…

This course will explore the fascinating second half of the 18th dynasty, from the reign of the pharaoh Thutmose IV to that of Horemheb (c1400 – 1295 BC); a period of…

Diarist, servant and wife.  Barrister, man of letters and husband.   The relationship between the servant Hannah Cullwick and barrister and man of letters, Arthur Munby, is one that has fascinated…

In this accessible introduction we will consider such questions as: What is the relationship between the mind and the body? Are the mind and the brain the same thing? What…

On this sample-based session, you will practice the most common methods of travelling stitches and cable knitting. Throughout the day you will work through a series of designs from simple…

From the disparate forms presented by the last vestiges of Beaux Arts and Art Nouveau, there soon developed Modern Architecture. This term covers so many forms such as the international…

In the heyday of the seaside holiday, England’s coastal towns were transformed to accommodate the millions of visitors and keep them entertained. Hotels, boarding houses, piers, lidos, beach huts, carousels,…

On this interesting, fun and informative course, we will cover a wide selection of hand embroidery stitches together with Stumpwork (raised work). You can choose to work in surface embroidery…

This course, coinciding with the new exhibition Barbara Hepworth: Art and Life at Tate St. Ives, traces the development of this mecca for artists from the arrival of Ben Nicolson…

It is fair to say, that a number of people find it difficult to buy garments that are the perfect length, sleeves too long, or maybe a zip breaks in…

Master the basics of crochet on this one-day workshop. Learn how to create a basic chain and simple crochet stitches. The day is very hands on and you will be…

A relaxed and fun day’s experience of practice and theory to enable everyone to understand their camera and improve their photography skills.  Suitable for anyone with an interest in photography,…

This course will suit all abilities of bobbin lacemakers from those just starting through to advanced. It covers English laces and many from the continent including Belgium, Spain and Russia.…

Come and explore the glorious effects produced by dyeing, crumpling, colouring, manipulating, cutting, rearranging and weaving paper to create unique decorative sheets for use in bookbinding and other crafts. We’ll…

On this general bookbinding course participants may pursue their own rebinding or repair projects at their own pace under the guidance of our expert tutor, rather than following a particular…

The light and airy studio at Dillington has all the tools and equipment needed for binding books in the traditional manner.  On this general bookbinding course participants may pursue their…

Botanical Illustration is precise detailed work, a combination of art and science.  The course will cover the use of basic materials and methods for beginners and will offer professional advice to…

Botanical Illustration is precise detailed work, a combination of art and science.  The course will cover the use of basic materials and methods for beginners and will offer professional advice to…

Brahms was not only one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era, but also a renowned concert pianist.  So, it’s not surprising that the piano features centrally in his…

Love wool! Then you’ll love needle felting! Fibre artist Carla Taylor of The Mousehole Woolery will guide you step by step through the techniques of needle felting as well as…

There are two main styles in traditional Chinese brush painting techniques: freehand style and meticulous style. The meticulous style, in Chinese “Gongbi”, literally meaning “tidy”, Gongbi work is painted on…

A day to explore the craft of Indian Block Printing to create your own wrapping paper, cards and textile product. You will have the opportunity to use a collection of…

A day to explore the craft of Indian Block Printing to create your own wrapping paper, cards and textile product. You will have the opportunity to use a collection of…

Love wool? Then you’ll love needle felting! Fibre artist Carla Taylor of The Mousehole Woolery will guide you step by step through the basic techniques of needle felting as well…

Dillington Discoveries brings in a new Summer/Autumn week of activities, expanding on the success of 2021 with some exciting new courses and content for the start of 2022. Summer/Autumn Dillington…

Once again, we are thrilled that the members of the Coull Quartet have agreed to return to Dillington House to lead this extended weekend of coaching for pre-formed string quartets…

This year’s workshop takes a magical journey through the rooms of a dreamland house. Each page spread opens on a new room and reveals its secrets – salubrious sitting room,…

No other ancient civilisation can lay claim to having repeatedly inspired and caused, on no less than five separate occasions, a massive infusion of ideas and styles into the contemporary…

English parish churches date from every period from the 6th century to today. This course looks at their architecture and how this evolved to accommodate the ways in which they…

This course is part of Dillington Discoveries Summer/Autumn week. Students will discover the traditional textile processes of fabric dying using a resist technique called shibori. We will experiment with different…

This course introduces students to the copper foil method of stained glass making. Often referred to as the Tiffany method, after Louis Comfort Tiffany. This method is used to make…

This course introduces students to the copper foil method of stained glass making. Often referred to as the Tiffany method, after Louis Comfort Tiffany. This method is used to make…

This course introduces students to the copper foil method of stained glass making. Often referred to as the Tiffany method, after Louis Comfort Tiffany. This method is used to make…

Add to your Christmas decorations at this fun festive workshop. Using simple techniques, knit up a mini stocking or bauble for the tree – you might choose to create a…

A great way to ease into the festive season. With the help of pre designed sheets, some simple cutting exercises and lots of inspirational resources, you will cut out several…

A great way to ease into the festive season. These lovely patchwork stars are the perfect introduction to the traditional, hand stitched, template technique of patchwork, also known as EPP,…

This is a very inspirational day where you will work on pre knitted swatches, we will practice our embroidery stitches, add applique, embellish the surface in various ways including beads,…

Have you ever wondered what Yoga is all about but not felt confident or flexible enough to commence general classes? Or have you had a break from Yoga and would…

Frances Power Cobbe was a leading activist in the nineteenth century.  She advocated for rights for women, was a prominent anti-vivisectionist and social reformer. This course will explore aspects of…

This talk, intentionally light-hearted and informal in tone, comprises anecdotes in the form of `Ten Commandments` derived from 35 years working as a picture specialist at Sothebys, Phillips and (since…

This course is part of Dillington Discovery Summer/Autumn week. From the conversion of the English to Christianity by Roman and Irish missionaries in the 7th century to the creation of a…

Often we need practical help with a sewing machine project, theory and written instructions are sometimes hard to visualise.   Practical workshops are aimed at helping and guiding students to accomplish…

If you have recently bought a sewing machine or have never really understood how to use all the stitches and feet that came with your sewing machine, then this is…

If you have recently bought a sewing machine or have never really understood how to use all the stitches and feet that came with your sewing machine, then this is…

The Amadeus Guitar Duo are counted among the top-class international guitar duos, receiving enthusiastic reviews from all over the world. Canadian Dale Kavanagh and her German partner Thomas Kirchhoff have…

Guitar Festival Sunday 7th August Concert – Eden Stell Guitar Duo. Guitar Festival Monday 8th August Concert – Amadeus Duo. Guitar Festival Tuesday 9th August Concert – Jessica Marie Quiñones…

Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading guitar ensembles, the duo’s chameleon-like ability to communicate in a multitude of musical styles makes them a constantly evolving entity with a…

Bibi Heal graduated from the University of East Anglia with a First Class degree in Music and completed her postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music. She has studied…

Jessica Marie Quiñones’ childhood was spent in the New Mexican desert of the American Southwest, land of Georgia O’Keeffe, cowboys, alien sightings, and the Native American flute. Specialising in the…

Raffaele and Janet have been active in the Sydney Classical Guitar scene over the last four decades, beginning with the founding of the Sydney Guitar Quartet in 1981, a group…

After 25 years under the dedicated stewardship of Peter Rueffer, the Dillington Guitar Festival has gone from strength to strength.  We are pleased to announce that from 2021 the Eden…

A day exploring textures, colour and design using the heat press and sublimation printing . We will be preparing our own dye papers, and learn how to use different textures, …

We will start by looking at examples of hand block printed fabrics, considering design placement, colour and pattern. Using a selection of hand carved Indian woodblocks experiment printing patterns, you…

Learn about the traditional skill of Indian Block Printing with images of block printing around Jaipur, handling hand printed fabrics and hand carved blocks. You will print tissue paper, card…

The day starts with brief introductions of each participant and a favourite image. Ideal for someone with an interest in photography and who wishes to technically and visually improve their…

Spend the day working on a project selected from my Toys to Knit book. Choose from a traditional knitted ball which you can personalise, or a beautiful starfish. Following the…

Classic lace knitting is a very traditional method of creating delicate and intricate work. During the day we will work up small samples of this technique, staring with the simplest…

This course is part of Dillington Discovery Summer/Autumn week. The landscape of South-West England is particularly dominated by the inevitable presence of a church – its tower or spire. These…

Scatter cushions are used so much as decoration and for function in most peoples homes, used to bring an accent colour into a room, as a design feature, also practically…

Learn how to make your own Shoulder or Tote Bag from stunning Italian Vegetable Tanned Leather. After an introduction to leather and its many types and uses, you will begin…

Stanley Spencer was one of the most prolific and popular English artists of the 20th century. This talk will explore his life and work and that of his first wife…

This two day course will enable you to create your own stained glass panel using the traditional method of combining coloured glass with lead. Stained Glass is an ancient art…

This two day course will enable you to create your own stained glass panel using the traditional method of combining coloured glass with lead. Stained Glass is an ancient art…

Using the traditional method of combining coloured glass with lead, this one day workshop will enable you to create one colourful stained glass spectrum stick which can be hung in…

This day is all about learning to be present and enjoying the moment. We will begin by exploring the lovely grounds at Dillington House and looking more closely at the…

Writing your own story is a wonderfully healing and fulfilling process. Whether it’s for your family, publication, or just for yourself, a memoir can help make sense of your experience,…

A relaxed and fun day’s experience of practice and theory to enable everyone to understand their mobile camera phone and improve their photography skills, covering simple techniques for taking fantastic…

Master the fascinating technique of modular knitting. Working with limited stitches and simple shaping you can create intricate pieces of work. It is a relatively simple method of the craft…

The Wilton Diptych is one of the treasures of the National Gallery in London.  The diptych commemorates King Richard II and is a rarity being one of very few medieval…

He was Emperor of the French for longer than his uncle, Napoleon I, and arguably did as much to change the face of Europe. But the bones of Napoleon III…

These courses are part of Dillington Discovery Summer/Autumn week. We know that a painting is more than just a coloured-in drawing, but how do we do it? What exactly is…

This study day is designed for anyone with an interest in Paris, its history and its art and architecture. We will begin with a survey of the city’s history from…

This course is part of Dillington Discovery Summer/Autumn week. We know that a painting is more than just a coloured-in drawing, but how do we do it? What exactly is…

These courses are part of Dillington Discovery Winter/Spring week. We know that a painting is more than just a coloured-in drawing, but how do we do it? What exactly is…

Do you want to create one of your own designs and translate it into a picture using the combined techniques of fabric collage with both machine and hand embroidery? Then…

In a time of worldly conflict and struggle, we need what poetry offers more than ever – words to express the inexpressible, heal the heart and inspire the human spirit.…

A day exploring colour and textures when printing with real leaves.  We will be using the heat press and dyes to print fabric using sublimation printing which can achieve the…

Award-winning author and director comes to Dillington House to present a weekend of revealing talks and films exploring just who really were the great artists Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo.  Each…

Love wool? Then you’ll love needle felting! Fibre artist Carla Taylor of The Mousehole Woolery will guide you step by step through the basic techniques of needle felting as well…

Singing with others is an exhilarating and liberating experience that everybody can enjoy. Singing for Larks workshops, run by Faith Watson, are based on the tradition of learning songs by…

Portrait photography using natural and artificial lighting, suitable for anyone with an interest in the genre of portraiture photography. Day 1: We will look at Metering, Shutter speeds & ISO.…

This course is part of Dillington Discoveries Summer/Autumn week. This course will explore the beautiful and fascinating sixteenth century raised embroidery technique known as Stumpwork. The theme will be set…

Charles Owen, ‘one of the finest pianists of his generation’, returns for his fourth visit to Dillington to give a recital of works by Brahms and Schumann.   The first half…

The magnificent Coull Quartet offers a rare combination of maturity and freshness and we are delighted that once again they are returning to Dillington House. Programme details:- Mozart:  Quartet in…

The twentieth century’s single greatest contribution to the Arts – namely film- also saw the birth of curse of the Mummy in films. Indeed Hollywood and Ancient Egypt have been…

This lecture will look at and assess the rise of and demands for lifelike portraiture amongst the growing wealthy elites of Northern Europe. In turn the employment of new materials…

This course is part of Dillington Discovery Summer/Autumn week. Join us on a musical journey, taking in a selection of the key works in the history of music.  Some are…

From the beginning of our modern age navigators and their merchant backers baulked at the long detours required to round the great Capes of Good Hope and the Horn and…

This day course is the first of a series of standalone courses, which considers how our modern understanding of the world took shape. The Ottoman conquest of the Levant cut…

This day course is the third of a series of standalone courses which considers how our modern world took shape. Of all the trading nations, the British were conspicuously the…

This day course is the second of a series of standalone courses which considers how our modern understanding of the world took shape. Following the early voyages of discovery, the…

Admiral Lord Nelson’s real ‘Bequest to the Nation’ was the unchallenged domination of the world’s seaways by the Royal Navy for over a century after the Battle of Trafalgar. In…

This course looks at England’s great medieval cathedrals, such as Durham, Salisbury, Wells, Lincoln, and Gloucester. As well as looking at their often breathtaking architecture, it explores how craftsmen with…

In October 1853 the Russian invasion of a neighbouring country, on the pretext of protecting a threatened minority, prompted a military intervention by Western powers.  The war, which dragged on…

This course provides close readings of two of the most recognisable portraits of the Tudor era, ‘The Ambassadors'(1533) by Hans Holbein the Younger and the ‘Ditchley’ portrait of Queen Elizabeth…

For this month’s Book Club, we will be discussing North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell published by Wordsworth Classics. Includes coffee and lunch.

For this month’s Book Club, we will be discussing Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie translated by Ina Rilke published by Vintage. Includes coffee and lunch.

For this month’s Book Club, we will be discussing Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen published by Wordsworth Classics. Includes coffee and lunch.

For this month’s Book Club, we will be discussing On the Eve by Turgenev published by Penguin Classics translated by Gilbert Gardiner. Includes coffee and lunch. Further details of novels…

A day exploring the gods, goddesses and temple remains of Memphis, Egypt’s earliest capital, located close to modern Cairo. We will explore the mythology of the deities most associated with…

We are meant to become more conservative as we get older but Gladstone’s political career started as a High Tory opposed to the abolition of slavery and ended as a…

We all have some vague notions about what the Hanseatic league was, when it thrived and where it was based. This course will set out to answer all these questions…

Watercolour and other water based mediums will be covered in this course which will look at all the crucial elements involved in producing good paintings right through from the planning…

Jazz, the Blues and Latin American dance music have all played important parts in the development of popular music over the part century.  But to think that’s where music of…

This course is part of Dillington Discovery Summer/Autumn week. A look at the most fascinating of the Impressionists, who all had secret sides to their lives. Camille Pissarro, the kindest…

Murdoch’s philosophy has often been neglected in favour of her novels. In this course we will remedy this imbalance. Beginning with the novel The Bell, we will look at the…

Sickness, age and bad luck have always left members of the community vulnerable to poverty and hunger. Equally constant, however, over many centuries, have been the efforts of the national…

This course will explore the first half of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty: c1150 – 1400 BC. We will investigate the origins and reigns of one of ancient Egypt’s most important ruling…

After the First World War, British artists strove to create innovative art that had links to the art of Europe. Paul Nash captured the ‘spirit of place’ in Dorset, Wiltshire…

History is not, as Alan Bennett once teased, ‘Just one ****** thing after another’ but rather a carefully crafted narrative of necessarily selective facts. The National Curriculum in English schools…

Love wool? Then you’ll love needle felting! Fibre artist Carla Taylor of The Mousehole Woolery will guide you step by step through the basic techniques of needle felting as well…

A wonderful opportunity to focus on techniques for introducing local wildlife into your paintings. Hares, badgers, foxes, deer. Creating atmospheric wet into wet backgrounds that set the scene for the…

Focusing on trees and techniques for creating atmosphere, depth and texture. Shari will bring plenty of visual references of trees and, of course, we have all the beautiful trees at…

Come and make a 4 foot high willow Angel with wings – new for Winter Season for your home or garden with local Somerset artist Jo Sadler of Forged n…

Join local Somerset artist Jo Sadler of ‘Forged n Willow’ to make a 2 foot high willow chicken or cockerel. Jo will guide you through each step to create your…

Join local Somerset artist Jo Sadler of ‘Forged n Willow’ to make a 4 foot high willow deer with a basic metal frame. Jo will guide you through each step…

Join local Somerset artist Jo Sadler of ‘Forged n Willow’ to make a 4 foot high willow deer with a basic metal frame. Jo will guide you through each step…

Join local Somerset artist Jo Sadler of ‘Forged n Willow’ to make a 4 foot high willow deer with a basic metal frame. Jo will guide you through each step…

This course is part of Dillington Discoveries Summer/Autumn week. Join local Somerset artist Jo Sadler of ‘Forged n Willow’ to make a wonderful 3 foot wide willow flying dragonfly for…

Join local Somerset artist Jo Sadler of ‘Forged n Willow’ to make a 2-3 foot high willow hare, either sitting or leaping. Jo will guide you through each step to…

This course is part of Dillington Discoveries Summer/Autumn week. Join local Somerset artist Jo Sadler of ‘Forged n Willow’ to make a wonderful 2 foot high, 3 foot long willow…

Drawing isn’t a gift, granted to some but not others; it’s a skill that can be acquired by anyone with reasonable hand/eye co-ordination and a determination to improve. It’s also…

This is a course for students interested in writing non-fiction news items or features. It includes how to research content and style of various publications and how to approach an…

A day of yoga to introduce beginners to key yoga poses (asana) with clear instructions on how to get in and out of each pose safely and easily. Yoga props…

We will be considering two different real life cases of murder which occurred between 1900-1975. Participants will be expected to listen to the evidence, discuss the case and attempt to…

We will be considering two different real life cases of murder which occurred between 1900-1975. Participants will be expected to listen to the evidence, discuss the case and attempt to…

Over the course of the day we will be considering two different real-life cases of murder which occurred in England between 1900-1975. Participants will be expected to listen to the…

We will be considering two different real life cases of murder which occurred between 1900-1975. Participants will be expected to listen to the evidence, discuss the case and attempt to…

We will be considering two different real life cases of murder which occurred between 1900-1975. Participants will be expected to listen to the evidence, discuss the case and attempt to…

We will be considering two different real life cases of murder which occurred between 1900-1975. Participants will be expected to listen to the evidence, discuss the case and attempt to…