Bishopsland Educational Trust

Integrity in making, wholeheartedly

Bishopsland Educational Trust is an internationally recognised and accredited charity dedicated to the training and education of young people in the craft of silversmithing in the United Kingdom. We have nurtured the careers of more than 200 silversmiths and jewellers over the last 30 years, the majority of whom have gone on to develop sustainable businesses in the sector.

Our immersive residential training programmes continue to provide a much-needed bridge between education and a professional career. We believe wholeheartedly in supporting silversmithing, jewellery and the allied trades through the transference and retention of vital hand skills in traditional and contemporary crafts.

Today, our society of Fellows are some of the foremost craftspeople in their field. They continue to pass their skills on to others and contribute to maintaining excellence within Britain’s craft, trade and industry. We continue to support our Fellows throughout their careers, offering opportunities for exhibitions, collaborations, commissions and routes to market through our network.

The protection and preservation of craft skills is a critical issue facing our sector today. Hand, technical, vocational and craft skills all use tools and making techniques that are endangered. Alongside professional skills transfer, Bishopsland is developing a Tools Library to protect, preserve and pass on hand tools for future generations – to collect, curate and care for them.

Tools from the library will be loaned, gifted or sold back to training, incubation or workspace environments. We believe this initiative will provide an exciting digital training resource and physical tools library that will support the UK craft sector and underpin training.

Initiated in 2023, the Tools Library has already acquired tools from former master silversmiths such as Gerald Benney and Brian Marshall, and we are actively discussing the acquisition of other sets to complement the Trust’s own tools.

We are thrilled to present an exhibition at Goldsmiths’ Fair that celebrates the craft of silversmithing and provides an introduction to our work. Find us in the Binding Room.

To find out how you can support the work of the Trust, please visit www.bishopsland.org.uk