If you’re struggling to find that special gift your dear old Mum… why not pop down and see what we’ve got to offer. Perhaps a piece from our new, artistic aluminium jewellery range:
We have a selection of stunning designs and styles to choose from and each piece is completely hand crafted and unique.
From a fridge magnet to a fine art painting, we might just have the pressie you’re looking for!
Here’s a date for your diary… Saturday 19th April sees the return of the Tithebarn Workshops Spring Fling…
Another slice of seasonal fun at the Tithebarn Workshops! The Spring Fling is our first annual event on the calendar and promises to be a day of fun and festivities. As well as all the Workshops and our cafe being open, there will be a collection of art and craft stalls in our beautiful garden. We will have live music for your entertainment and a bar and food stand for you to enjoy.
Come and start spring off with us and have a great day out!
On our walk down to the gallery this morning we spotted this hungry heron sitting on the Lock Inn’s canal boat, outdoor dining… not sure that he wasn’t a bit too early for a Boatmans!
We wanted to let you know that we have now set the date for Serena’s Pop Up Summer Exhibition… the weekend of 21st and 22nd June 2025. This not only marks the first official day of summer but also Serena’s first local exhibition at the Tithebarn Workshops.
The exhibition will take place in our brand new gazebo in the beautiful gardens of the Workshops. It will be open from 9am to 6pm both Saturday and Sunday and we are having a preview evening on Friday 20th June from 5pm to 9pm (please contact us for an invitation).
The show will feature all Serena’s very latest works and will give you the opportunity for a first look and maybe make a purchase before it goes into our gallery and on to the website.
In previous years we have attended various art fairs around the country. However, this year we made the decision to stay closer to home and offer our customers are more affordable and approachable way of buying art.
If you would like more information about the exhibition or would like to come along on the preview evening, please feel free to contact us.
That was a close one! Our thoughts here at the Tithebarn Workshops are with those hit by the latest floods in Town. We just got away with it here this time.
We had water approaching from the front and the back of the units, a full pincer movement!:
Nature is remarkable though, as within days of the water subsiding spring started to pop up in the shape of first snowdrops:
Can we please now have some nice dry weather!
Everything down at Barton Farm is open and later today will be accessible from all directions again, as Barton Bridge and the River Walk will soon be reappearing!
Yes I had to Google it! It means ‘through difficulty to heights’ and is a frequently used Latin phrase apparently! We just thought it summed up our 2024 quite well… It’s been a bit of a year!
Why not start the year with a little bit of light flooding?! Not the best way to start 2024 but it only came into the gallery up to about our ankles so we were able to get up and running again quickly. It is always a quiet time of year at the Tithebarn Workshops, so it could have been worse!!
Feburary saw Serena working hard towards Bath Art Fair with lots of paintings being done. It was our second visit to the Fair at the amazing Bath Pavilion, after a very successful 2023 event. We had a great reaction to the latest work and also a few sales, which is always nice.
March saw the final stages of the huge Wessex Water project at the top of Pound Lane. Sinking an enormous 160,000 litre tank to give additional storage for storm water… well that was the plan! This job caused a lot of disruption to the businesses at Barton Farm in the early part of the year and had a detrimental impact on the Lions Day in 2024.
April saw a set back to our new years plans to get fit and walk to work every day! Serena went and fell over, breaking her ankle. This was in the middle of preparation for our next art fair. Exercise isn’t always good for you!
Despite anklegate… we made it Rochester Art Fair in May and it was really interesting to travel away from our area of the country and guage peoples reaction to Serena’s latest work. Being upstairs didn’t make things easy for the prospective buyers (or Serena on crutches!) but again the work was very well received and sales were made.
June was a quiet month with time to relax a bit before the summer season really got going. Sitting outside our beautiful gallery with smell of the roses all around.
2024 saw some absolutely cracking events at the Tithebarn Workshops, including our Summer Fayre in July. Music, food, art and lots of lots of fun for the whole family. These events have been hugely entertaining and great fun to put on… 2025 will see more!
It may not seem much in the great scheme of things, but when we got our new signs at the top of Pound Lane it marked a big moment for the Barton Farm area. We had been putting out temporary signs for over 14 years and now everybody knew where we were! Thank you to the Town Council for their help with this.
And on the subject of signage… our rebranding was completed with some stunning structures put up by Felix Byrne. Even the local cat seemed impressed!
The Bradford on Avon Pumpkin Trail was handed over to us at the Workshops in October and SerenArts Gallery became Pumpkin Trail HQ. Over 35 businesses took part this year and the Ex-Libris book token prizes went down very well.
Told you there’d be more of this! November saw the worst flooding we’ve ever had during our time here, surpassing the awful floods of 2013. The levels went as high as 3.51m and although that was only 9cm more than 2013, the difference was significant. We were down here at 4am getting everything lifted and ready, but this surprised us with the speed and levels it got to. A lot of cleaning to be done and once everything dries out properly we will have to replace some flooring and walls. We were luckier than many other businesses hit in Bradford… at least our gallery is a cow shed and kind of built for this sort of problem. Hopefully this wake up call will be enough for developers and coucillors to see sense and not build on any flood plains in and around the town.
December has been a lovely month with the Christmas bikes and lights up around the workshops (thank you Katie and her team at Burbidge Electrical) and the hugely successful late night shopping event we held. Pop up shops within each studio, mulled cider, mince pies, music and a whole lot of festive support from locals for us all down here. It was so nice to get the backing of community after a difficult time.
There have been up and downs in 2024 but we are a resilient lot down at the Workshops and you’re always guaranteed a smile here. We look forward to seeing you all again in 2025 and thank you to every one who visited and supported us all this year.
Merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous new year.
We thought we had better just let everyone know that it is business as usual at the Tithebarn Workshops, despite the rather hectic goings on down here at Barton Farm!…
Over the last few days it has been all hands to the pump (literally!) at Barton Farm. The brand new, very expenisve tank at the top of Pound Lane appears to be causing a few ‘issues’ shall we say! Wessex Water have been working round the clock to sort the problems out and have been a great help to the studios that have been hit by all this rain. Fingers crossed for a nice dry spell now.
After the big build up and Serena and Jackie’s stella performance on BBC Radio Wiltshire, to promote the event (thank you very much Sue Davies), it is with huge regret that we are having to cancel this Sundays Tithebarn Workshops Autumn Fayre.
Our sincere apologies for anyone who had made firm plans to visit on Sunday, but the weather has beaten us this time, as we felt we just couldn’t risk the safety of our visitors, exhibitors and musicians.
The studios and Vixy’s Cafe will all be open as usual so if you would still like to come down to the Workshops we would love to see you… just bring your raincoats!
We will keep you up to date with the other upcoming events and hope the cancellation hasn’t spoiled your plans too much.
If you get stuck in Bradford on Avon’s rather notorious traffic, why not give yourself a little break from the stress and follow one of these signs…
… head down Pound Lane to Barton Farm – a wonderful spot at the heart of Bradford on Avon.
We are lucky enough to call this our place of work, although it’s an absolute pleasure to be coming here each day! You will find not just the stunning Tithe Barn but a great selection of studios, shops and cafes, together with the West Barn, which regularly hosts exhibtions and events.
There aren’t many better spots on a beautiful sunny day like today…
Our gallery is tucked neatly at the centre of this oasis and can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday all year round and even on Bank Holidays!
You can also take advantage of other activities in the area such as paddle boarding or canoeing on the River Avon and Kennet and Avon Canal, all of which is within a 2 minute walk from the Barton Farm car park.
We look forward to welcoming you to Barton Farm soon and don’t forget the Tithebarn Workshops Autumn Fayre on Sunday 22nd September!
SerenArts Gallery 