Our Programmes

On this course we will be working with English rush, (Schoenoplectus lacustris) a beautifully soft material to weave with. We will learn some ancient techniques of cordage, plaiting and how to make a small rush foraging bag/ handbag with a strap. You will learn how to prepare and weave with rush and other foraged fibers such as carex and dandelion. You will leave with a finished pouch and the skills to make another. 

A weekend of consorts, chamber music and ensemble playing for recorder players. International award-winning quartet Palisander curates a weekend of ensemble playing that celebrates the diversity of the recorder: with consort settings ranging from optional one-to-a-part chamber groups, to massed playing sessions focusing on large ensemble repertoire, with everything in between. The selected repertoire will span from the medieval to the present day, including repertoire unique to Palisander, tailored to this playing weekend. Members of the quartet blend their extensive performance experience with varied teaching practice, from adult playing courses to conservatoire, to create bespoke masterclasses, recorder orchestra, and coaching sessions.

Best known for his 8,000-mile walk for peace, former monk, activist, author and educator Satish Kumar has been inspiring global change for nearly 70 years. Between his home in the south of England and an experience returning to India, the documentary Radical Love portrays his impressive journey, presenting a collection of vivid projections of what can be accomplished when our presence in the world is filled with the powers of simplicity, collaboration and love.

Finding the Words for the Journey: How Travel and Nature can be turned into Prose. On this five-day residential course, tutors Nick Hunt and Joanna Pocock will introduce you to travel and nature writing. You will learn how to develop your experiences and observations of journeying in the world into engaging pieces of prose. The tutors will use practical exercises, focused writing assignments and workshopping as they help you develop and structure your writing. Our mid-week guest speaker is the 2024 Wainwright Prize Winner, Michael Malay.

Whether you’ve finished a draft or have yet to put pen to paper, in this course you will immerse yourself in brainstorming, writing, and editing your novel, guided by award-nominated novelist Ally Wilkes and Cat Camacho, an editor with over 10 years’ industry experience. You will learn specific writing techniques to craft your story, including in-depth guidance on plotting and structure, the opening chapter, and other areas specifically chosen to benefit you – whatever stage you’re at. You will also be able to make the most of exclusive one-to-one sessions with the course tutors, along with targeted writing exercises on which you will receive feedback from your fellow course participants.

Woven platters and trays in two designs. This courses give you the chance to explore willow platters, and is a great introduction to the Catalan and frame styles of basket making. Using Somerset and locally grown willow, you will have time to finish two designs over the course of the day and leave with the skills to make more. These trays are useful for placing hot pans on, for serving food or as decorative pieces hung on the wall.

Learn how to dye, finish and hand stitch leather using the traditional two needle saddle stitch to make a coin purse and a belt on this Introduction to Leatherwork. Ruth will guide the group through the techniques needed to produce professionally finished leather goods as well as repair and restore leather items. We will also discuss the role of livestock in nature friendly farming and how by working with leather from pasture based farms in the UK we can support farms who are positively contributing to the environment and capturing carbon in their systems.

The act of making art is therapeutic, it can quiet the mind and allow you to focus on the present. When this happens and you are truly immersed in the moment of creating you can relax and allow the flow and freedom of painting to begin. This workshop is suitable for all abilities even those who have not picked up a paintbrush before. We will use the beautiful surroundings of Hawkwood to inspire us and have an enjoyable day of painting abstracts

A day dedicated to the art of looking, you’ll take in the beautiful grounds at Hawkwood and spend the day painting. Students will start off sketching under birdsong, in the kitchen-gardens, before some detailed experiments in mixing colours in watercolour and a spectacular two course lunch. One-one guidance will take away fear of the blank page; this class is the perfect launch to start a regular journal or sketchbook practice.

Your authentic voice is the muscle and messenger of your soul, your most intimate friend. In this in-depth residential retreat you will learn to listen and to express yourself effortlessly, naturally and spontaneously in ways you never imagined possible. Now open for bookings

This course introduces you to both the intriguing symbolism of Renaissance alchemical imagery and how to make paintings or drawings in response to what the pictures, motifs and colours trigger in us as individuals. It invites the participants to actively engage with these ancient pictures and develop their own contemporary visuals.

This unique art form originated in Buddhist temples and is used for the elaborate decoration of Kimonos. This rarely taught skill has been based at Hawkwood for over twenty years. Using traditional methods and techniques you will produce truly stunning works of art and learn about Japanese culture. This course is open to people with some experience of Japanese Embroidery with Jackie Hall.

How can we bring people together to engage with the challenges facing our communities? How can we ask questions creatively to encourage meaningful dialogue? What skills, resources and capacities do people already have that can be built upon? The Art of Invitation training offers new creative tools for change to equip artists, groups, communities and organisations to engage in the ecological, cultural and social challenges of our time. Register your interest now, bookings for this course will open soon.

During this three day workshop participants will be working towards developing simple three-dimensional vessel forms and woven structures. Participants will be encouraged to consider ‘drawing’ with different materials, and to explore linear and spatial relationships by introducing content and detail with fibre and yarns. We will also work with collage, layering and weaving processes in relation to two- and three- dimensional compositions.

The Ecological Skills Summer Camp at Hawkwood is an immersive, hands-on programme designed to equip participants with the practical knowledge and tools needed to live more sustainably and harmoniously with nature. Set within the stunning landscape of Hawkwood's eco-friendly estate, this summer camp offers a unique opportunity to learn through engaging workshops, outdoor activities, and community collaboration. Participants will explore a wide range of topics, including permaculture design, natural building, renewable energy systems, foraging, and wildlife conservation. Register your interest now, bookings for this course will open soon.

Come and join this residential weekend, Stephanie’s eleventh at Hawkwood, where you will explore in dance the universal desire of human beings to identify a place as “home”. Stephanie will teach both traditional folk and modern choreographed circle dances that expand on this theme; some previous dance experience is necessary to join the group.

Towards an Embodied Practise A recurring question writers face is how the body can be convincingly articulated and communicated. In this innovative and immersive week, Ruth Allen and Ali Millar will explore how to write and protect the body, creating an embodied practice that responds to the body and the many environments it finds itself in. This is a particularly vital component of writing when writing about nature, place, sickness, parenthood, sexuality and gender. Over the week you’ll become equipped with the skills and confidence needed to explore writing the body in various settings.

Poetry, Cosmology, Interconnectedness, and Democracy. In challenging times we need the illuminating sustenance of soulful creativity within a meaningful context. This course will celebrate and cultivate our imaginative capacities - from arranging a poem, to crafting a life path, to building community, to transforming society - imagination is foundational. The poetic impulse within us dreams new realities into existence.

Craig Ogden will give expert insight on effective practice strategies. There will be ensemble work, concerts, and tutorials. Register your interest now, bookings for this course will open soon.

Hawkwood's Creative Experience Weekend offers a rejuvenating retreat focused on restoring balance and inner harmony. Set in the tranquil surroundings of Hawkwood's estate, participants are invited to unwind, reconnect with themselves, and find peace through holistic activities that nurture their creative side and leaving feeling inspired. Register your interest now, bookings for this course will open soon.

An engaging summer concert with chart-topping guitarist, Craig Ogden. This Friday night recital will have a varied programme of key works from the guitar repertoire. Register your interest now, bookings for this concert will open soon.

Whether you’ve finished a draft or have yet to put pen to paper, in this course you will immerse yourself in brainstorming, writing, and editing your novel, guided by award-nominated novelist Ally Wilkes and Cat Camacho, an editor with over 10 years’ industry experience. You will learn specific writing techniques to craft your story, including in-depth guidance on plotting and structure, the opening chapter, and other areas specifically chosen to benefit you – whatever stage you’re at. You will also be able to make the most of exclusive one-to-one sessions with the course tutors, along with targeted writing exercises on which you will receive feedback from your fellow course participants.

Gather around the “songwriting campfire” with award winning singer-songwriter, composer and talented storyteller Dan Whitehouse and artist mentor Katie Whitehouse. Experience a playful approach that will help free your mind, connect you with your inner child and light new pathways into your songwriting. Register your interest now, bookings for this course will open soon.

This is an introduction course for Japanese woodblock printing and it is designed to be suitable for absolute beginners. The traditional Japanese prints such as Hokusai or Hiroshige's works are created in the same way. You will design your own block, carve and print. During the workshop, you will learn how to create the registration mark, how to use tools and how to use Baren (printing tool) to make a print.

Why are we, humans, drawn to represent ourselves in image? Humanoid figures are amongst some of the earliest surviving forms of art, so a desire to capture likeness or a portrayal of people is nothing new but how should you go about learning to do just that? A foundational knowledge of drawing is important to all artists, even if your interests lie in abstract or graphical art. A fundamental understanding of anatomy in portraiture will improve your interpretation of the human body and make the process of capturing it on paper easier and more expressive.

How we farm, fish and eat impacts on our ecosystems and all life on planet Earth. Everyday food decisions can be a powerful force for positive change. This pioneering ecological arts and culinary Research Residency between Living Justice and Greencuisine Trust explores how, as food citizens, we co-create just, restorative and whole-health nature cultures.

This unique art form originated in Buddhist temples and is used for the elaborate decoration of Kimonos. This rarely taught skill has been based at Hawkwood for over twenty years. Using traditional methods and techniques you will produce truly stunning works of art and learn about Japanese culture. This course is open to people with some experience of Japanese Embroidery with Jackie Hall.

Join celebrated choral maestro Gavin Carr (“Chorus Master to the Universe” - BBC Radio 3) in his Choral Weekend dedicated to one of the most unjustly neglected works in the repertoire: Beethoven’s wonderfully uplifting Mass in C. With four talented young soloists, explore this beautiful work in a relaxed and joyful atmosphere.

Discover how to Find and Hone your Voice Over the course of this immersive week, Ali Millar and Dan Richards will explore life writing and the many areas it spans, from the personal essay, to memoir, to biography. This deep dive into life writing is suitable for a range of levels and abilities. Through a combination of masterclasses and one to one tutorials, Ali and Dan will equip you with everything you need to develop your life writing.

This course offers viol players the chance to explore consort repertoire from the viol's Golden Age and to improve their technique along the way. Composers studied will include Jenkins, Purcell, Holborne, Lawes and Coperario. Register your interest now, bookings for this course will open soon.

Whether you’ve finished a draft or have yet to put pen to paper, in this course you will immerse yourself in brainstorming, writing, and editing your novel, guided by award-nominated novelist Ally Wilkes and Cat Camacho, an editor with over 10 years’ industry experience. You will learn specific writing techniques to craft your story, including in-depth guidance on plotting and structure, the opening chapter, and other areas specifically chosen to benefit you – whatever stage you’re at. You will also be able to make the most of exclusive one-to-one sessions with the course tutors, along with targeted writing exercises on which you will receive feedback from your fellow course participants.

Learn how to dye, finish and hand stitch leather using the traditional two needle saddle stitch to make a coin purse and a belt on this Introduction to Leatherwork. Ruth will guide the group through the techniques needed to produce professionally finished leather goods as well as repair and restore leather items. We will also discuss the role of livestock in nature friendly farming and how by working with leather from pasture based farms in the UK we can support farms who are positively contributing to the environment and capturing carbon in their systems.