Kigbeare Studios & Gallery is set in its own beautiful woodlands 3 miles from the town of Okehampton on the edge of Dartmoor.
A brief history of Kigbeare
Kigbeare Manor Farm may well occupy the site of a much older manorial settlement, documented in the Domesday Book (1086AD). The present farm buildings are marked on the mid-19thC parish Tithe Map and are thought to be at least 18thC or 19thC in origin. An archaeological assessment carried out on the wider area identified a number of significant sites in the vicinity of the farmstead including a deserted medieval settlement, which has been dated by excavation to the 13th/14thC. It is possible that Kigbeare was formerly a more extensive settlement in medieval times, which has since shrunk to the size of a single farmstead. The focus of historic interest on this farmstead is therefore not only the traditional farm buildings, but also the high potential for below ground archaeological remains in the vicinity of the farmhouse which may reflect medieval or earlier settlement. It is thought that the name comes from the French, ‘Cache Bergere’, translated as ‘place of the shepherds’ and came to be pronounced as Kigbeare.
And now
When the Domesday Book included Kigbeare, the idea of craft studios and a gallery was many centuries away. The farmhouse, cottages and outbuildings have been restored to provide a complex of 10 studio workshops and a beautiful gallery set around a landscaped courtyard and have won numerous architectural awards.
For details of the makers, the gallery shows, and the various courses held at Kigbeare, please go to the relevant section.