Christmas Gifts From Gloucestershire Makers

Published: December 7, 2025
Soulful Iron

Gloucestershire has always been a county of makers. From medieval wool merchants who built our honey-stone towns, to the pioneers of Arts and Crafts, who settled in the valleys. This landscape has creativity in its bones. And today that tradition's alive and well in workshops, studios and forges right across the county.

This Christmas, skip the high street. When you buy from a local craftsperson you're doing more than just buying a product - you're keeping centuries-old skills alive, supporting someone's livelihood, and getting something with actual soul behind it.

Here are some of Gloucestershire's finest makers and what they create.

Reckless Designs - Forest of Dean Ceramics

Since 1991, Reckless Designs has been making what they call "superior pots at sensible prices" from their Forest of Dean workshop. Handmade pottery finished with underglazes, oxides and precious lustres. The sort of pieces that make everyday rituals feel special.

Reckless Design's mugs aren't mass produced, each one is slip cast from original hand thrown shapes, then painted and finished individually.

You get personality. Vibrant colours, proper patterns, something that actually makes you smile when you reach for your morning coffee. Chef Tom Kerridge's a fan, in fact his restaurants use Reckless ceramics.

The bowls and serving dishes are just as good. Hand-painted details, lustrous glazes, that satisfying heft of real pottery. These become part of your kitchen rather than just sitting in it.

Find them online or look out for their work at local stockists across Gloucestershire.

Soulful Iron - Knife Making Experience Days

Up in the Slad Valley (yes, where Laurie Lee roamed), Mike Gracia's Soulful Iron forge keeps the ancient sound of hammer on anvil going strong.

Knife Making Experience Days

Ever fancied forging your own knife? Soulful Iron's knife-making course days let you do exactly that. Create a Viking-style knife from raw steel in a day.

It starts with a brew and a chat about not setting yourself on fire (health and safety, but kept relaxed). Then into the forge. You'll use both hand hammers and a forging press to work high carbon steel, learning to heat it, hammer it, shape it, harden it. The aim? Leave with your own custom-forged Viking knife with an actual sharp edge.

Groups are kept small - maximum six people - so you get proper one-on-one time with Mike. It's a full day of hands-on ancient craft. You walk out with something you made yourself and new respect for how hard it is to turn metal into a working blade.

Gift vouchers available at Stroud Farmers' Market every Saturday, or book online at soulfuliron.co.uk.

Alternative Christmas Decorations... in Steel!

Forget plastic baubles that only last for one Christmas. Mike creates Christmas decorations from steel - heirloom pieces you'll be hanging on the tree for years to come. Stars, snowflakes, traditional shapes. Each one bears hammer marks from its making. No two are identical. These are great alternative Christmas decorations!

Mary Rose Young Pottery - Forest of Dean

Want subtle? Look elsewhere. Mary Rose Young Pottery is joyfully, unapologetically LOUD. Pink-haired Mary Rose creates hand-thrown ceramics from her Forest of Dean studio that look like they've escaped from Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland.

Her teapots aren't really teapots - they're conversation starters. Wobbly, colourful, some decorated with actual gold paint (£800 a pot for the paint, yes really). Lily Allen's a fan. So's Mika. And Demi Moore. You'll occasionally see pieces in Liberty or Harrods, but visiting the studio's the proper experience.

Then there are the amazing mugs, like her Alice In Wonderland mugs. Multi-flower designs. Zebra stripes. Cake stands that seem to defy physics. Every single piece hand-painted in Mary Rose's distinctive style using specialist paints that cost more than your average car service. These are investment pieces - one writer's teapot went up £200 in value in just a few years.

Not for everyone. But if someone on your list appreciates bold, beautiful, slightly bonkers ceramics? This is it.

Rhian Wyman Design - Royal Forest of Dean

Rhian Wyman designs and hand-weaves absolutely everything herself from her Royal Forest of Dean studio. After getting a BA Hons in Textile Design and working as assistant to some seriously renowned weavers (including weaving cloth for the National Eisteddfod crown in 2016), she launched her own thing in 2017.

Her throws are proper textile art. Each one designed, woven, darned, washed and tentered by Rhian. The colours come from nature - Moss collections, Lichen ranges, Heather tones. Yarn's sourced from a Yorkshire mill. British luxury you can actually wrap yourself in.

The scarves are brilliant too. Lightweight but surprisingly warm, beautifully textured. Each takes hours at the loom. Forest greens, heathland purples, lichen greys - wearable bits of Gloucestershire essentially.

She's a member of the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen, which tells you the quality's there. Find her work at rhianwymandesign.co.uk.

The Lane Natural Skincare - Painswick Valley

The Lane is a small Painswick Valley soapery with big principles. Natural and organic ingredients only. Plant oils, butters, beeswax, clays, essential oils. Nothing synthetic. Nothing unnecessary.

Their soaps are made the traditional cold process way, enriched with essential oils, charcoal, and honey from local Gloucestershire hives. Each bar's hand-cut and wrapped individually. Properly gentle on skin, unlike the commercial stuff. Scents from lavender through to charcoal detox.

Their gift sets are brilliant for presents - soap, hand cream, lip balm, all beautifully packaged. Even the packaging's thought through: reusable, recyclable or biodegradable. So you're not creating waste along with giving a gift.

Perfect for anyone who cares about what goes on their skin and where it comes from.

Jo Snowdon Stained Glass - Forest of Dean

Working from her artist studio on the Lydney Park Estate in the Forest of Dean, Jo Snowdon creates stained glass that's bright, colourful, and full of life.

Jo works in both traditional lead came and copper foil to create bespoke windows, wall art, candle holders and smaller hanging pieces.

Stained Glass Sun Catchers & Wall Art

Jo's smaller pieces make brilliant gifts. Sun catchers that throw rainbows across your room when the light hits them. Wall-hung panels with long flowing lines and circles - she loves creating balance in her work. Each piece handmade in copper foil or lead. These aren't mass-produced pretenders - this is proper stained glass craft from someone who's been perfecting it for years.

Custom Stained Glass Commissions

Want something specific? Jo takes on bespoke commissions for windows and larger pieces. She'll work with you to create exactly what you're after, whether that's a window panel for your home or a special piece as a gift. She also repairs stained glass windows and lampshades if you've got something precious that needs fixing.

Her workshop's in The Old Saddlery on the Lydney Park Estate - within easy reach from Bristol, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Hereford and Cardiff. Reviews rave about her skill and the quality of her teaching (she runs classes too, if someone on your list fancies learning the craft themselves).

Hayley Kruger Jewellery - Cirencester

At New Brewery Arts in Cirencester, Hayley Kruger makes fine jewellery using Fairmined and Fairtrade gold with ethically-sourced gems. Most of her work's bespoke, but there's a small collection available through her online store and studio.

Every piece carries a story beyond the design. Fairmined gold means the miners got fair wages and safe working conditions. Her diamonds come from Canada with full traceability. This is jewellery you can feel genuinely good about giving someone.

She specialises in bespoke commissions too - transforming ideas into wearable art. Engagement rings, memorial pieces, whatever you need. Each crafted with care in her Cirencester studio. Book a consultation if you want something truly personal.

Why Buy Local?

When you buy from Gloucestershire craftspeople, the money stays here. It pays studio rent. Buys materials from local suppliers. Supports families who've chosen to make things with their hands rather than take an easier route.

And you get something genuinely special. Not products designed by computers and made by machines in bulk. Things made by people who care deeply about their craft, who've spent years getting honing their skills, and who put a bit of themselves into everything they create.

This Christmas, give something with a story behind it. Give something made in Gloucestershire.

Where to Find More:

• Stroud Farmers' Market (Saturdays) - Soulful Iron, John Forster, others
• Stroud Arts & Crafts Market (2nd & 4th Saturdays, Baptist Hall)
• New Brewery Arts, Cirencester - Hayley Kruger and more makers
• Made in Stroud Shop
• Nature in Art Gift & Craft Fairs, Twigworth