For 30 years, Blackthorpe Barn at Rougham near Bury St Edmunds has been hosting craft weekends with some of the country's most talented makers. Many people also know it as the place to go for everything you need to celebrate Christmas in wonderful style, as Rachel Ducker discovers...

This year Christmas George Agnew and Adrian White, joint owners of Blackthorpe Barn, are making it extra special with a celebratory Christmas Festival on the Rougham Estate, showcasing some of the country’s most talented artists and craft makers, plus the Country Christmas Shop with everything from gift ideas to decorations, and the opportunity to pick your very own Christmas tree. It makes a perfect festive day out.

George and Adrian talk about the festival and three decades of craft at Blackthorpe Barn.

Great British Life: Blackthorpe Barn has been hosting Christmas crafts for 30 years. Blackthorpe Barn has been hosting Christmas crafts for 30 years. (Image: Tom Soper)

For those of us who have never been to Blackthorpe Barn at Christmas what awaits us?

G: Blackthorpe Barn is a huge medieval thatched barn set down an avenue of oak and lime trees and surrounded by traditional Suffolk meadows dotted with ancient oak trees. The barn is surrounded by other traditional timber buildings in a courtyard where we offer visitors a wonderful Country Christmas Shop, superb weekend craft fairs - presenting only the finest work by some of the best makers in the country - and award winning Christmas trees grown nearby on the Rougham Estate, which is a former British Christmas Tree Grower of the Year.

A: In the courtyard we have a delightful café where we offer the best quality home-cooked food, all made at the barn and always fresh and delicious. We also offer festive workshop courses, guided walks and self-guided walks. There's plenty of free car parking on site too.

Great British Life: Simon Eddell, farm manager at Rougham Estate farms where Christmas trees are grown. Simon Eddell, farm manager at Rougham Estate farms where Christmas trees are grown. (Image: Andy Abbott)

Tell us about your 30th anniversary

G: Christmas is the natural time to celebrate our 30th anniversary because we grow top quality Christmas trees here on the Rougham Estate and have been doing so for the last 60 years. We've built the entire Blackthorpe Barn Christmas around the trees.

To celebrate we've commissioned an exciting sculpture, 10metres long and weighing 10 tonnes, that is carved from a huge 400-year-old Rougham Estate oak tree that had to be felled a few months ago for safety reasons. It's called Forest Floor and has been made in Suffolk by the Heaven Sculpture Yard. The trunk of the tree has been cut in half lengthwise and its interior surfaces carved to represent the extraordinary life above and below ground in an ancient wood.

A: The viewer can walk between the two sides of the trunk, past the two halves of a huge human head, and experience being surrounded by this recreation of mycorrhizal threads that link up all the trees in the wood into a single vast life form. We unveiled it just as our 30th anniversary crafts season opened and it will be on permanent display for all who come to the barn.

What are your most memorable moments over the past 30 years?

G: Being listed in the Top Eight Christmas Markets by the Crafts Council UK in 2019 is a huge highlight. Becoming British Christmas Tree Grower of the Year in 2002, and supplying the tree to stand outside 10 Downing Street on three separate occasions. I think we're still the only people to have done this.

A: Opening the Country Christmas Shop for a private shopping session for an important international celebrity who has to remain nameless. We were not allowed to speak to her or hardly look at her, but she certainly spent a lot of money!

When do festive celebrations start at Blackthorpe Barn?

A: Our Country Christmas Shop opens in October and our café is open every day. The Craft Fairs run for six weekends starting in early November with more than 50 craft stalls each week, many of them changing from week to week, so there's always something different and new to see. Our Christmas trees go on sale later in November and we close on December 22.

Great British Life: Maker Karen Risby with her ceramics at Blackthorpe Barn. Maker Karen Risby with her ceramics at Blackthorpe Barn. (Image: Tom Soper)

Great British Life: A Soldersmith ring, one of the craft items available at Blackthorpe Barn. A Soldersmith ring, one of the craft items available at Blackthorpe Barn. (Image: Blackthorpe Barn.)

Do either of you craft in your spare time?

G: Ady is very creative. During lockdown he was creating YouTube videos on craft skills, under the title Virtually at the Barn.

What do you enjoy most about Christmas at Blackthorpe?

A: It's the looks on people’s faces when they see what we've done to make Christmas come alive for them that's the most special thing.

How do I pick my own Christmas tree?

G: If you would like to pick your own live tree in the plantation start by choosing a date - November 13, 14, 20, 21 between 10am and 4pm. You book and pay for an arrival slot to visit the plantation which can be done through the Blackthorpe Barn website at blackthorpebarn.com.

The plantation is near the barn so you just come to the barn car park and follow the signs. The check in is at the entrance to the plantation, where you will be met and given a label to put on the tree you choose. You can also decide when you want to pick it up from the barn. For health and safety reasons we can't cut the tree down whilst the public are in the plantation.

Don’t forget to measure your ceiling height before you leave home so you can choose a tree that fits. There's nothing worse than chopping the top off the tree when it arrives home. It's been grown with such care for so many years and is brought to the barn in perfect proportion to look its very best, so it will never look good if you chop off the top. If you absolutely have to shorten it, cut a piece off the base instead.

Great British Life: Picking your own tree at Blackthorpe Barn is easy and fun. Picking your own tree at Blackthorpe Barn is easy and fun. (Image: Tom Soper)

Do you have your own traditional way of celebrating Christmas?

G: I'm half Danish, even though I was brought up in Rougham, so I grew up with Danish Christmases which were celebrated on Christmas Eve with the house lit by candlelight and everyone sitting down to a roast goose with red cabbage and apple and prune stuffing.

Great British Life: George Agnew at Rougham Estate. George Agnew at Rougham Estate. (Image: Rougham Estate)

Carols were sung by everyone whilst dancing round the Christmas tree, hand in hand. The tree was lit by real candles. Health and safety warning: don’t try this yourselves! In those days the tree was brought in fresh on December 23 and the candles were only lit once. The tree was also surrounded by fire extinguishers and buckets of water!

A: I was brought up in Warwickshire near Stratford on Avon and we had own special traditions. The celebrations were on Christmas Day, in the proper English manner, with the meal consisting of a wide range of different main courses, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, roast pork and apple sauce, roast turkey with cranberry sauce, pigs in blankets and roast ham too. The table was groaning with food!

In our house everyone wanted something different to eat. Afterwards there were masses of board games played in a very competitive way by the whole family.

Great British Life: Adrian White creates the Christmas displays at Blackthorpe Barn. Adrian White creates the Christmas displays at Blackthorpe Barn. (Image: Blackthorpe Barn)

Does that influence what you do at Blackthorpe?

G: My Danish background means there are always some unique Danish decorations available in the shop, some of them imported directly from Denmark. Other Scandinavian decorations also make a regular appearance, particularly from Sweden, but also Finland.

Ady who chooses everything for the shop and creates the displays, drawing on his graphic design background. He has mastered the Scandinavian look from many winter visits to Denmark and Sweden over the years.

How have you evolved at Blackthorpe over the years to keep up with trends?

A: As the shop is a country Christmas shop, it's not as fashion lead as some are in city centres. We make regular visits to the major trade shows in the UK, with occasional visits to Danish and German shows too. This is backed up by keeping a close eye on all the leading interior magazines and a few discrete visits to rivals’ shops.

Great British Life: George's Danish background influences the selection of decorations on offer at Blackthorpe Barn. George's Danish background influences the selection of decorations on offer at Blackthorpe Barn. (Image: Blackthorpe Barn)

Great British Life: Scandinavian inspired decorations at Blackthorpe Barn. Scandinavian inspired decorations at Blackthorpe Barn. (Image: Blackthorpe Barn.)

What happens at Blackthorpe when it’s not Christmas?

G: Blackthorpe Barn is increasingly an all year round destination for visitors. The wonderful Courtyard café ran throughout the summer this year for the first time. There are art exhibitions, textile shows, weddings in the summer and an increasing emphasis on wellbeing with tai chi, yoga and meditation classes happening on a regular basis.

Do you have anything exciting planned for 2022?

G: Next year there are plans to build a beautiful new café in the courtyard which will be open for almost the entire year in the future, opening up possibilities for many more events. The cafe will link under cover with the other buildings so visitors won't have to go outside to visit it. This has been a dream for many years and seems finally to be coming true.

The craft weekends start on November 6 at 10am to 5pm continuing every weekend until December 12.
Tickets for the craft weekends can be purchased at https://www.blackthorpebarn.com