Students across the college kicked off the year by gaining invaluable real-world experience through work placements. From local organisations to exciting opportunities as far as New Zealand, these placements have allowed students to develop new skills and connect with industry professionals. Hear directly from our students about their experiences:
Having completed a month of work experience, I feel I have gained a lot of confidence when being in a commercial workshop. The three companies I visited: APITTSfurniture, Edward Barnsley Workshop and Katie Walker Furniture all varied from each other. I found this incredibly beneficial as I am still honing ideas on my ideal future business.
At APITTSfurniture I was making larger pieces alongside the sole maker/ business owner Alex Pitts. During my time there, I was exposed to all other aspects of the business, as well as the making. For example, we went on trips to the timber yard to source materials, researched the best options for hardware and other additions. In some cases, I was fortunate enough to converse with the consumer too.
The Edward Barnsley Workshop felt very similar to our ‘West Dean ways’ in terms of technique and traditional hand skills. At West Dean College I am taught by my two talented tutors who both previously were apprentices at Barnsley. I had the privilege of talking to the designer James Ryan about the chairs Barnsley makes. A real “pinch me” moment.
Finally, a week with Katie Walker finished off my month of work experience. With Katie I learnt the importance of jig making and how this can massively speed up what would normally be a very time-consuming process. During my time with Katie, I made many wooden clamps to aid the steam bending of her award-winning Windsor Rocker. All of which I constructed using various jigs. Being with Katie demonstrated the importance of women working in the historically male-dominated field of woodwork. I was exposed to the challenges that come with being a female furniture maker and ways to deal with them.
Work experience had me thinking about the future and all the exciting things to come. As a craftsman, I feel so incredibly fortunate to have the ability to combine my passion with my profession. All three of my placements showed me this can be a reality with the right business model and determination.
I recently embarked on a journey to enhance my skills in book restoration and box making., I reached out to numerous binderies across the UK and the US in search of a placement. I was fortunate to receive invitations from three binderies: Temple Bookbinders in Oxford, Wyvern in East London, and Arca Preservation in Norfolk.
My primary objective was to delve into box making and to refine my understanding of constructing robust yet aesthetically pleasing structures for housing valuable objects and books. At Temple Bookbinders, I had the opportunity to create infills for drop-back boxes designed to hold vintage playing cards, as well as assist in the construction of boxes for three rare first editions.
At Wyvern, I engaged in the rebinding of a vintage copy of The Three Musketeers, while also acquiring a new technique for crafting drop-back boxes that feature double millboard thickness walls and flush squares on the exterior, significantly enhancing the box’s sturdiness and aesthetically pleasing.
My experience at Arca Preservation provided insights into conservation-grade materials and the meticulous process of creating drop-back boxes —with 3, 4, 5, or 6 walls. This experience underscored the importance of carefully considering the box structure to ensure the safe housing of delicate objects.
Throughout my placements, I created models for future reference and investigation, deepening my knowledge significantly. I am incredibly grateful for these opportunities and am eager to further explore diverse shapes and sizes of box making for more complex items in the future.
I spent two weeks completing my first student placement at The Clockworks with their conservator-in-residence, Alex Jeffrey. The Clockworks is a private museum equipped with a clock workshop for self-employed clock conservators. During my time there, I had the opportunity to experience a commercial clock workshop by working alongside Alex. I serviced a French clock and English dial clocks. I also accompanied Alex on on-site visits to clients’ homes to inspect and maintain their clocks, as well as to service a public clock.
It was a brilliant experience. Alex showed me how he works as a self-employed clockmaker and sustains his business. I also had the opportunity to network with other clockmakers at horological events. This placement allowed me to apply the knowledge and practical skills I had learned at West Dean College.
My second placement was at the Speelklok Museum in the Netherlands, where I spent four weeks. I secured this placement by attending a horological lecture at the British Museum and meeting the curator at the event. I have a deep interest in automata and musical clocks, which made the Speelklok Museum a perfect place for me, as it specialises in this area and has an on-site clock workshop dedicated to caring for the collection.
During my placement, I worked on two singing bird cages. My tasks included disassembling, cleaning, condition assessment, component-making, assembling, testing, and report writing. I had never worked on similar objects before, so this was an entirely new experience for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was also a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss practical conservation approaches with Dutch clockmakers. They showed me how musical clocks and mechanical musical instruments can be displayed in a museum setting through their interactive tours.
For future students, I highly recommend seizing every opportunity for placements and exploring all possibilities. Talk to people, and you will find your own path.
Hello! My name is Lucie and I’m currently on placement at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, where I am combining my love for Antiquity with hands-on conservation work! I completed my BA in Classical Studies at King’s College London, so I already knew about the foreign schools in Athens. It wasn’t until I spoke with an alumnus of the Ceramics Conservation course that I found out that the ASCSA often hosted conservation students during the winter months! With prior experience in a private conservation studio, I was eager to see how conservation operates in a public institution, especially one as historically significant as the ASCSA.
Keen to take the opportunity to combine my love of Antiquity and further develop my practical skills, I decided to email the head conservator about the possibility of completing my internship there… and the rest is history! I had to submit a portfolio, complete an application, and then I was accepted! The excavation at the Agora has been going since the 1930s, and each summer they invite interns to continue excavating, so the ASCSA has the unique challenge of managing a collection that is continually growing every year. As a result the collection is varied, and contains material from prehistoric times, through Byzantine and up to modernity! The site of the Agora used to be a residential district, known as Vrysaki, so more modern materials are also often excavated. Some of my key responsibilities so far have been working on the archaeological objects selected by scholars for their research publications. Usually from the Bronze Age (approximately 1750 to 1050 BCE) When I receive an object, I first assess it by examining it under a microscope to determine its condition and develop the course of treatment needed. Depending on its needs I will then clean, bond, and document my work. Condition reports and treatment logs are essential. They’re connected to the object in ASCSA’s system, ensuring future scholars can trace its history and understand the interventions it underwent while in my care. This is important for many reasons, primarily because as the excavation continues, another piece may be found and knowing how it has been bonded allows retreatment to be as minimally invasive as possible, reducing the risk of damage to the objects.
I have confidently applied the skills I learned at West Dean and while working on archaeological material from the Novium in Chichester. I have also had the opportunity to try new techniques and materials that I am excited to bring back with me. My advice for prospective conservation students is simple: look closely at what you enjoy and explore! Conservation is so multifaceted, with opportunities to blend your passions with work around the world. I was lucky in that I already knew about the ASCSA from my time at Kings, but reach out to people! Email them! You’ll never know what might come of it
I feel very lucky that I am able to experience a non-UK perspective in conservation. Learning about the challenges and solutions in another country’s approach has been inspiring, and it’s an experience I will carry with me throughout my career.
For my work placement I’ve been lucky enough to go to PRONI, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. I was really keen that my work placement be at an archive, since I wanted to gain experience of the quantity and variety of material that archive conservators are responsible for, and PRONI has most definitely provided me with that!
I’ve had so many opportunities while I’ve been here: on my very first day, I was creating supports for documents for an internal exhibition. I’ve had the opportunity to repair and rehouse medieval parchment documents, carry out condition checks and on objects going out on loan and on their return from exhibition and assist with a condition survey of some of the oversized items in storage. I’ve also been involved with environmental monitoring at the off-site storage facility, witnessed how the conservation team are advocating for conservation by giving tours of the conservation studio and been invited to attend a disaster planning course which I’m so excited for!
One of my key tasks on arriving at PRONI was to reorder a medieval archbishop’s register (belonging to Archbishop Prene of Armagh) ready for digitisation. This had been conserved in the 1970s but not rebound, and some of the signatures had got out of order. It has been an absolute privilege to be able to work with such a fascinating, unique document, and to know that the work I have done will enable it to be digitised and become much more accessible to the public. I have also been conserving a collection of mid-20th century official documents, using paper flattening and repair techniques I learnt at West Dean – very typical of archive conservation, and something I’m really enjoying doing!
Going to Belfast has also given me the opportunity to explore a new place, and I’ve been making the most of it by visiting as many different museums as possible at the weekends. It’s fascinating to see the different approaches museums take to preventive conservation while their objects are on display. My biggest piece of advice to future students when they go on their work placements is to make the most of every aspect of it! I’ve said ‘yes’ to every opportunity that I’ve been offered, and I’ve used my weekends to make opportunities for myself too. I’m absolutely loving my time in Belfast, and I can’t wait to share everything I’ve learned with the other book students when I get back to West Dean!
