The Wheelwright's Shop

First published in 1923, The Wheelwright's Shop is George Sturt's account of the family wheelwright business in Farnham, Surrey, which he took over in 1884. With a history stretching back to 1706, the workshop held generations of practical knowledge about trees, timber, tools and the making of carts and wagons. Sturt shows how the soil of a farm, the gradient of a hill, the strength of a horse and the grain of a tree could all determine how a cart or wagon was made, revealing a knowledge gleaned through close observation and generations of practical work. Written as the role of the wheelwright was coming to an end, overtaken by iron, machinery and modern production, the book is both a celebration of skilled work and a record of a passing world in which craft was intimately connected to landscape, seasons and natural materials. This new edition has an introduction by the sculptor David Nash, for whom The Wheelwright's Shop has been a source of inspiration and lifelong resource about wood, trees and making. "A great celebration. A wonderful statement about a reality, and an expression of how knowledge can be gathered and gleaned from the raw materials that grow in the woods, hedges and fields." David Nash