Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft is located in

Ditchling Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling. ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(, OS Grid Reference TQ 32486 15293). It specialises in showcasing the artists and craftspeople who made Ditchling a creative hub in the 20th century, such as

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...

, the sculptor, printmaker and typeface designer,

Edward Johnston Edward Johnston, CBE (11 February 1872 – 26 November 1944) was a British craftsman who is regarded, with Rudolf Koch, as the father of modern calligraphy, in the particular form of the broad-edged pen as a writing tool. He is most famo ...

, designer of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

font, and printer

Hilary Pepler Harry Douglas Clark Pepler (1878–1951), known as Hilary Pepler, was an English printer, writer and poet. He was an associate of both Eric Gill and G. K. Chesterton, working on publications in which they had an interest. He was also a founder w ...

. These artisans were associated with

The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic was a Roman Catholic community of artists and craftspeople founded in 1920 in Ditchling, East Sussex, England. It was part of the Arts and Crafts movement and its legacy led to the creation of Ditchling ...

, an offshoot of the Arts and Crafts movement. The museum is located in the centre of the village just below Saint Margaret's Church on a site that was founded in 1985 by sisters Hilary and Joanna Bourne as a place to display their collection of local artworks. In 2012, a renovation project was commenced with funding of £2.3M via a grant from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

and other donors. The refurbishment, completed in late 2013, was designed by London practice Adam Richards Architects. The museum was then opened by

Nicholas Serota Sir Nicholas Andrew Serota, (born 27 April 1946) is an English art historian and curator, who served as the Director of the Tate from 1988 to 2017. He is currently Chair of Arts Council England, a role which he has held since February 2017. Se ...

. It is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

under English law. The building dates back to 1836, when it was the first village national school. It began with one classroom and a schoolmaster's cottage, then in 1887, the school was extended; and by 1915, enrolled 128 pupils. After the school closed in 1983, the Bourne sisters saved the building from demolition and developed it into their museum.

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External links

* {{official website, www.ditchlingmuseumartcraft.org.uk/ 1985 establishments in England Museums established in 1985 Local museums in East Sussex Art museums and galleries in East Sussex Printing museums in England Charities based in East Sussex Museum of Art + Craft

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