Bringing a traditional heritage building and craft back to life
The National Lottery Heritage Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Bonsall Framework Knitters Shop is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to bring this historic building back to life and back to the community.
Welcome to Bonsall
Where framework knitting was the main industry for around 100 years. And knitting shops like ours could be found around the village making stockings, socks and occasionally a fancy bit of lace or trimming. Today, most have been modernised, but this little gem remains mostly the same as when it was built in 1737… other than the crumbling walls and roof, of course. Our aim is to bring this building back to life, and with it, it’s history, it’s heritage and perhaps a little bit of its craft.
What is Framework Knitting?
Framework knitting is a method of producing knitted fabric using a mechanical knitting frame, originally invented by William Lee in 1589. It marked the transition from hand knitting to machine-assisted production and became the backbone of the cottage textile industry in areas like Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Leicestershire from the 17th to 19th centuries.
Framework knitting involved a knitting frame – a hand-operated machine made mostly of wood and metal – that allowed workers to knit faster and more evenly than by hand. It didn’t remove the need for human skill: the knitter still worked every row manually using levers and handles.
Framework knitting was one of the first examples of mechanised textile production, laying the groundwork for the later industrial revolution. It allowed small rural communities like Bonsall to take part in large-scale textile production long before factories dominated the scene.
What now?
We have plans for this quirky little building in our back garden.
2021-2024: planning and funding
We’ve submitted plans, had them approved and secured funding from the National Lottery and Heritage Homes for our project.
Autumn 2025: building restoration
The restoration phase brings the framework knitting shop building itself back to life, focusing on preserving original features and craftsmanship.
Summer 2026: open to public
The final phase is to be able to share the rich heritage of our building and its industry through events and immersive experiences.
Not just a pretty building
We’ve located, bought, disassembled and transported an original framework knitting machine dating back to the 18th century. We can’t wait to re-assemble it in the top floor of our knitting shop and return framework knitting to Bonsall.
Thank you to Martin Green and Stuart Botterill for the disassembly support.
3D Immersive sound experience
We’re in the process of developing an online audio-visual experience, tapping into world-renowned expertise of the Electro-Acoustic Research Lab (EARLab) at the University of Derby. Staff and students will take 3D measurements of the original acoustics of our framework knitters workshop as well as making 3D recordings of a collection of historic framework knitting machines in actions.
These, alongside 3D visuals captured as part of the process, will be built into a novel online immersive experience, allowing anyone in the work to explore what it would have sounded like to be working in our knitters shop hundreds of years ago
We hope this will be up and running on this website by Winter 2025. Stay tuned!
Thank you
For dropping by, for your interest, for your support. If you’d like to get in touch, get involved, or find out more, please send us a message. Thank you.