Dollyluyahs at Priors Hall
If you enjoy weekends away, quaint English villages with thatched roofs, fine food, great company, first class hospitality… and you also love admiring dolls’ houses, and making your own miniatures in convivial company, let me tell you about the Dollyluyah Workshop Weekends.
By Moi Ali
I was lucky enough to attend the first Dollyluyah, a collaboration between the London Dollshouse Festivals and The Pig Style. I arrived at the inaugural Workshop Weekend, along with around 20 other like-minded people, all of us a little unsure of what to expect but delighted at what we found. It was spot-on, from the top-notch tutors to the stunning location of Priors Hall in Essex, an impressive building dating to the 1400s, set in acres of landscaped gardens (the workshops took place in the comfortable historic barn, a fabulous setting for creativity!)
We packed an awful lot into the weekend. Starting with a welcome cuppa in vintage china on arrival on Saturday morning, the first day ended with a gourmet feast that evening in Priors Hall, where owner and fellow miniaturist Alison Horne, organised the magnificent meal (and supplied us with a steady stream of delicious snacks throughout both days – cakes, scones and home-baking. Alison also introduced the upcycling and repair workshop, and gave everyone an exclusive 1:144 scale dolls’ house kit she had designed, and the option to take a piece of furniture from her box of bits and to upcycle it with the help of the legendary miniaturist David Ward, who was available to advise and assist. Emma Batteson, London Dollhouse Festival patron and a judge on the Canadian series Best in Miniature (amongst her many claims to fame) was also on hand with ideas and inspiration. Alison also provided a wealth of materials – paint, paper, fabrics… and inspiration in the form of a gorgeous display of her own mini creations. I started on a tiny house kit, which I completed and further personalised at home, where it now takes pride of place as a dolls’ house in one of my dolls’ houses.
After a delicious buffet lunch, workshop two was led by yet another giant of the miniature world, Geoff Wonnacott. Everyone went home clutching a highly covetable mahogany French inkstand dating in style to around 1835. Mine has already found a home in one of my room boxes and I couldn’t be more proud for having made it myself from the tiny timber pieces Geoff supplied (he also gave us the brass parts we needed, and the glass beads for the inkwells). After we’d finished our ‘work’ for the day, we visited Alison’s studio to drool over her fabulous collection of antique dolls’ houses with our knowledgeable tour guide Daniel Brookbank, who runs the Cobham fair and had earlier given us a talk on antique and vintage dolls’ house furniture from Gottschalk to Lundby.
After an action-packed Saturday, Sunday was no different. My final workshop was with Michael Robbins, a contestant on Channel 4’s Great Big Tiny Design Challenge. The Halloween scene we each made under Michael’s expert supervision involved hand sculpting his characterful, quirky pumpkins in polymer clay, along with little lollipops and cute candies, all arranged as a colour co-ordinated display on a table each of us was provided with.
After a delicious farewell Sunday lunch, while it was sad to say our goodbyes, all participants felt very proud as we headed home laden with our haul of marvellous miniatures. Our warm glow of satisfaction was all the warmer for the knowledge that we made these wonderful items ourselves, and left with the skills and confidence to do so again. Aside from all the fun, that is the real legacy of the weekend.
We will be running more Dollyluyah Workshops in 2026 with the 1st taking place after our Summer Show from May 19th – 21st.
