New Participant at our Open Weekend

Plans are going well for our Open Weekend on 29th & 30th April at The Sitting Spiritually Garden and we are delighted to welcome a new participant, Joshua Rose Shepherd’s Huts, who are based in Axminster.

Joshua Johansen is an award winning woodworker from Hawaii who ran a successful logging and woodworking business. 

After moving to the bucolic Devon and Dorset border with his English wife and daughter, he decided to build his first hut after falling in love with their history, beauty and charm.

Shepherd’s Huts date back to the 16th century and by the 1800's they were a familiar sight in the fields of Britain. The original huts were used as shelter for Shepherds, particularly during lambing season. They had to be portable from field to field and had a modest interior which included a stove, a straw bed over an area in which lambs could be kept and a medicine area.

Joshua takes inspiration from the original huts adapting them for modern life. He places great importance on crafting a hut that will last for many years to come, using traditional joinery techniques and honouring the materials he uses.

Obviously the size of the Sitting Spiritually Garden doesn’t permit us having an actual hut here for the weekend, but Joshua Rose will be with us, on hand with plenty of photographs and literature and if you would like to see one of their huts, the actual one in the photo at the top is on display at Millers Farm Shop, Kilmington, Axminster, just ten minutes from the Sitting Spiritually Garden.