Our Mission

Devotional crafting as an antidote to modern living.

The aim of Sacred Tree Spirit is to explore the wellbeing benefits of crafting through wood turning, craft workshops and a forging experience.

Craft School

A holistic craft school for the modern, mindful maker
Founded by Jon Fellows, the craft school at Sacred Tree Spirit near Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth is a community art project devoted to the healing powers of heritage crafts.
As much about the process as the physical object, course participants will be given an opportunity to learn new skills with an emphasis on the wellbeing benefits of crafting.
“Perhaps the art of making can be an antidote to the ills of modern living and the artefacts become totems to heal,” says Jon Fellows.
Working primarily in steel and wood, Jon explores reappropriating traditional crafts in a modern context. He hopes that participants will be inspired to carry on the devotional practice ignited here at Sacred Tree Spirit to create at home.

What to expect from our Workshops and Talks
The school hosts weekly craft workshops led by Jon or guest craft tutors, that are geared towards both beginners and improvers. You can sign up to courses such as stained-glass design, natural paint-making by a former fresco restorer or learn how to craft an orchard ladder, artisanal broom or willow basket.
We can also customise craft activities for groups of between 4-8 people over a weekend or half/full day, and arrange one-to-one wood turning and hook/ bottle opener forging.
Knife sharpening and pole lathe turning, meanwhile, are just a few examples of the school’s themed Friday evening talks and demonstrations by specialist craftspeople.
Making the most of our serene forest setting, we will also be hosting naturalist-led group foraging walks with food around the school’s stone-hewn fire pit.
Craft workshops typically run from 10-5pm and include a healthy homemade lunch. All
necessary tools and equipment will be provided and, in most cases, you can take your creation home that day. Please refer to our contact page for details of the school’s location and directions.
About the Build
A two-year labour of love, Sacred Tree Spirit’s craft school champions low impact and sustainable building practices, as well as a respect for its wild woodland surroundings.
In their commitment to the environment and reusing materials, Jon and his all-local team have reclaimed stone from a centuries-old ruined onsite dwelling, upcycled a shopfront as a glass porch and given a second lease of life to pozi timber joists from a retired School of Irish Dance.
The very definition of hyperlocal, Jon has also milled windblown timber and salvaged leaded glazing from a derelict building within a mile radius of the build. As for the school’s
underfloor and wall insulation, that’s made from 100% recycled glass.
Echoing Jon’s craft philosophy, the bi-storied building blends old with new. The structure is inspired by American Monitor Barns but has been contemporised with cutting edge construction techniques.
A love letter to bespoke design; inside there are multi-use workstations, a wood-fired bread oven, an artist-in-residence space and an adjoining forge that’s fuelled by home-produced charcoal.