Gawthorpe Textiles Collection

Gawthorpe Textiles Collection (GTC) is the operating name of independent museum and registered charity The Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth Textile Collections. Since its establishment in 1959, the charity has existed to deliver its powerful founding vision focused on education, public access to the collection for all and the promotion of wellbeing. The aims and purposes of the charity have never been more relevant as the country faces the challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic. GTC operates from the Gawthorpe Hall estate in Padiham, Lancashire; family home to founder Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth MBE (1886- 1967), a life long collector of global textile and craft items. Rachel was a prolific lace maker and embroiderer. She was also a philanthropist who devoted her life to actively improving the social welfare of the communities on her doorstep. The charity’s long term ambition is to work in partnership to realise Rachel's vision of creating a craft house, a centre of excellence for learning in textiles. As the only dedicated textile collection of its size and variety in Lancashire, the collection which stands at over 30,000 pieces of global provenance, is a truly remarkable resource. It is one of the most diverse, interesting and encyclopaedic textile collections in the UK and is known to specialists worldwide. In a digital age which is seeing a strong resurgence in the value of hand crafts, GTC champions traditional craft skills, celebrates creativity and delivers programmes of activity which have profound and positive life changing effects on individuals’ mental wellbeing and life skills, promoting a sense of community - all through participation in craft. Key activities undertaken by the charity fall into two strands; management and care of the collection including research, documentation, acquisition, interpretation and conservation. Secondly, sharing the collection with the public; catering to a broad range of ages, cultural backgrounds and skill levels. This includes delivering historic and contemporary exhibitions, artist collaborations, workshops, talks, tours, research and study visits, as well as outreach in the local community through Valley Street Textiles Studio (a joint initiative with Calico Homes).