Chairmaking Courses
Run by professional chair maker James Mursell, each course is held in a purpose-built workshop on his farm in West Sussex.
With a maximum of eight students per course, everyone receives all the individual attention that they need.
James Mursell has taught over 2,200 students at The Windsor Workshop over the past 22 years and every person has gone home with a complete chair!
Courses are of three lengths:
2-day (weekend) 4-legged stool
3-day (Friday to Sunday) Small side chair – the Crescent
5-day (Monday to Friday) Full-size armchair
You can expect to take a completed Windsor chair/stool away with you at the end of your course, along with the skills to make more at home!
The chair making courses are action-packed with new techniques being introduced all the time. However, there are plenty of breaks for coffee, lunch and tea, in the adjacent farmhouse. These breaks are a great time to get to know your fellow students and are an important and enjoyable part of the course. All food and drink is provided and few students leave the course lighter than when they arrived!
James puts great emphasis on making Windsor chairs that are soundly constructed and attractive. Many traditional techniques are used during the courses, along with newer methods that have been developed in the workshop.
On the 5-day chair making courses the use of green/damp wood is essential in order to make the finest possible chairs. Of course this wood is fully dried, before being incorporated into the chair.
Working with the wood
Each course is based around the use of hand tools such as: spokeshaves, travisher, adze, drills and others.
Windsor chair making is unlike most other branches of woodworking, with the emphasis being more on shaping wood than making the joints. Unlike cabinet making, the joints, which are vital to the integrity of the chair, are easy to make
James Mursell set up The Windsor Workshop in 2004 to teach the art of chair making and to help to keep the craft alive. The courses are designed to give an enjoyable and fulfilling experience, available to all. Absolutely no previous experience is required to take a course and this has been proved time and again by over 2,200 people in the last 22 years!
Motivation to join a course
Students come on these chair making courses for a number of reasons: just to have a go and to gain the satisfaction of making an attractive and useful Windsor chair; or perhaps in the hope of finding a new hobby or career.
Whatever your motivation, why not give it a go? You will be guaranteed a busy week learning a wide range of new techniques and you may also make new friends!
