Lopham Linen: A Legacy for Modern Craft charts the rise and fall of the linen industries of North and South Lopham in Norfolk and the subsequent revival of linen production by Rita and Percy Beales. The exhibition narrates how centuries-old knowledge in linen spinning and weaving held by employees of firms like T.W & J. Buckenham were transmitted to Rita and Percy Beales after they moved to North Lopham in 1926 and began their lifelong dedication to spinning flax and weaving linen.

The exhibition will bring together previously unseen textiles, tools and documents from the collection of Norfolk Museums Service with photographs and documents from the Rita & Percy Beales archive at the Crafts Study Centre. It will tell a detailed and personal story about the transfer of knowledge from traditional industry to modern craft, celebrating the skill of the Lopham linen weavers and the individual artist-makers who succeeded them. 

Despite the recent interest in cultivating and processing flax and other bast fibres as a local, sustainable alternative to cotton and synthetic fibres, the history of the British linen industry and the context underpinning its modern revival is under-represented in UK museums. This exhibition aims to address this gap, narrate the unbroken lineage of English linen production and inform the debate on use of sustainable materials and provide a resource for future textile artists.

The exhibition highlights how the Beales’ occupy a unique place in craft history, securing a ‘linen legacy’ through their own commitment to learning from their forebears and through making themselves. This research-by-practice method is adopted by the exhibition’s curator Max Mosscrop who alongside extensive archival research into Lopham linen has rebuilt and revived old looms to produce new work.

A publication will be produced to accompany the exhibition.

Exhibition supported by the Patricia Baines Trust.

 Curated by Max Mosscrop.