HCA Red List of Endangered Crafts

The Red List of Endangered Crafts is an inventory of traditional crafts and trades practiced in the UK that are at risk of dying out in the succeeding generation. The original Red List, which took two years to compile,[1] was first published by Heritage Crafts on 3 May 2017 with financial support from the Radcliffe Trust.[2] The inventory evaluated 169 crafts[3] and all are graded along the model of animal species at risk, using categories: least concern, endangered, critically endangered, near-extinct and extinct.[4]

The second edition of the Red List was published on 9 March 2019, with 212 crafts evaluated; the critically endangered list increased to 36 crafts. 102 crafts were classified as currently viable.[5][6]

The third edition of the Red List was published on 24 May 2021, with 244 crafts evaluated; the critically endangered list increased to 56 crafts. 110 crafts were classified as currently viable.[7][8]

Research for the fourth edition of the Red List began in September 2022, with financial support from the Pilgrim Trust, and was released on 11 May 2023. This edition evaluated 259 crafts and added a further 17 skills to the list including straw hat making and encaustic tile making.[9][10]

  1. ^ "Handmade in Britain". The Countryman. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  2. ^ "The HCA Red List of Endangered Crafts". Heritage Crafts. 15 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  3. ^ Adams, Callum. "Cricket ball makers declare the end of their handcraft". The Times. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Crafts in the UK: een kennismaking". Expertisecentrum voor Technisch, Wetenschappelijk en Industrieel Erfgoed. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  5. ^ "The HCA Red List of Endangered Crafts 2019 edition" (PDF). HCA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  6. ^ "Sixteen ancient British crafts in new danger of vanishing forever, says Heritage Crafts Association". The Mail. 9 March 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  7. ^ "The HCA Red List of Endangered Crafts 2021 edition" (PDF). HCA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  8. ^ Morris, Steven (24 May 2021). "Kilt-making and sheet glass-blowing added to list of UK's endangered crafts". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Craft skills under threat with 17 additions to the Red List of Endangered Crafts". Heritage Crafts. 11 May 2023. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  10. ^ Morris, Steven (11 May 2023). "From boatbuilding to barge painting, traditional British crafts at growing risk". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.