Exhibition – Withy Lore

Withy Lore explores the endangered craft of withy pot making, celebrating its heritage and community of makers through story, art and film.

Until the 1960’s and 1970’s willow crab/lobster pots, known locally as withy pots, were a common sight around the South West coastline. Crafted with great skill over the winter months and cast into the sea with the hope of a good catch, these pots were a lifeline to fishermen and their families for generations. With the introduction of plastic pots, withy pot making rapidly declined and today few pot makers remain. Pot styles/techniques vary from place to place, person to person, like a signature. In turn these signatures reveal stories about place and community. As pots generally lasted 1 season, and most makers didn’t document their process, many designs have already been lost. Withy pot making is now ,classified as ‘critically endangered’ on the Red List of Endangered Crafts, meaning it is at serious risk of no longer being practised in the UK. There is therefore an urgency to document and support this fascinating craft and its heritage, which is deeply connected to our relationship with the natural world.