Embroidery Workshop Opens At Lancaster Castle

A well-known needlework and embroidery expert currently appearing on BBC TV’s The Repair Shop has opened her own workshop at Lancaster Castle.

Sara Dennis is a tutor of hand embroidery who regularly teaches at the Royal School of Needlework and whose classes have been held at historic national venues such as London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, The British Library and Hampton Court Palace. As well as teaching, exhibiting and managing her private commissions, Sara is a regular member of the team of experts featured on the popular BBC TV show The Repair Shop. She appeared in series 5 of the programme when using her skills to repair a huge 100 year old hand-stitched bedspread.

Now resident in Lancaster, Sara has for several years had her own dedicated workshop in Farfield Mill, Sedburgh. Earlier this month she moved that base to Lancaster Castle and set up shop in the ground floor of the famous Well Tower (or Witches Tower) in which the Lancashire Witches were incarcerated while awaiting trial in 1612.

Commenting on the move, Sara said: “My husband and I live just alongside Lancaster Castle so have been watching the renovations being carried out here with great interest. Once the refurbished courtyards and new spaces were revealed at the end of last year, we could both see how fabulous it would be to be part of this wonderful heritage asset and to play our part in bringing some of these historic spaces back to life. After a series of conversations with the Duchy of Lancaster we were delighted to have been awarded a lease and look forward to welcoming visitors to the Castle and talking to them about my work.”

Lancaster Castle has undergone a major refurbishment in recent years remodelling the lower courtyard and opening up more of the Castle’s historic buildings many of which were previously unseen and inaccessible. The latest phase of the project completed in November 2019 and since then local coffee roasters Atkinsons and Lancaster University have both taken leases on the spaces newly available.