Welcome to the art studio! Every morning and afternoon, a team of four artists come together to paint, draw, sculpt and create both group and individual artwork. The art studio is a vibrant workshop and an important space for creative productivity.
Our art can be inspired by anything that interests us – including the seasons and festivals.

Many artists prefer certain media, such as watercolour painting, collage, lino printing, sculpting in stone or paper mache, drawing or using pastels, however we all try new techniques and materials to bring our ideas to life. You will often find greetings cards, paintings, prints and paper mache in the shop that have been created in the art studio, and we are happy to receive requests for commissioned projects.

Walk into the workshop of the Lantern Weavers and you will be greeted by an abundance of lively colour and textures. The workshop is a light filled space with an atmosphere of both intense activity and thoughtful reflection. The workshop provides a positive and stimulating environment enabling individuals to lead a meaningful working life.

Emphasis is on acquiring and developing new skills and experiencing craft techniques. Importance is also placed upon the social skills that develop intrinsically when one is an active member of a committed working team. There are usually up to eight adults with a learning difficulty working in this workshop each day, Monday to Friday, making up a team of skilled craftspeople.

The weaving is carried out on traditional hand looms. We have eight floor looms with foot treadles, and six table top looms. The aim is to produce cloth of a high standard that is attractive, well made and that will last. The yarns used are mostly cotton, linen or wool and are often unbleached or dyed in-house using natural dyes.

The range of products includes rugs, blankets, table runners, large floor cushions, tea towels, lavender bags and scarves. Simple, beautiful and functional designs to be valued and appreciated.

The workshop is regularly opened to visitors. This gives an opportunity for meeting the weavers and to see the work in progress. The weavers are happy to take commissions from individual customers. The products are sold through the Lantern Shop and at arts and crafts shows throughout the year.

Each weaver experiences a sense of self-worth through creating something that is useful and enjoyed by the customer. As a team, we design our weaving around a seasonal colour theme, creating an attractive cohesive range of goods with a wide appeal. Individual weavers also come with suggestions and enjoy selecting colours and yarns to create their cloth, giving the end product a unique quality. 

“If you have woven the cloth yourself it has something of you in it, it is from your hand, your imagination, and the beauty of the cloth and the skill of its maker can be seen”

Where creating our daily bread means more than just baking a loaf!

The Lantern Bakery aspires to create a delicious, high quality product range, using traditional handcrafted methods and natural organic ingredients. 

In the Lantern Bakery there is the opportunity for the companions to experience the process of creating “our daily bread” from the beginning to the end as well as the development of a good work ethos where everyone takes pride in what they have created. The atmosphere in the bakery is a positive one, where each person knows their role in the bread making process and is proud to be part of the team. 

Some of the Companions who work in the bakery have been bakers for 20 years, building on their skills and knowledge each year. The experience of being there each day and contributing in a positive way with such a meaningful and worthwhile outcome helps build confidence and a sense of purpose and achievement. 

Gareth has been a baker for over 20 years and he says “My job is to prepare the cheese buns with pumpkinseed topping, I like doing this”. These buns are one of our top selling products. Simon has also been a baker for many years he says, “It is my job to weigh the flour and mould the bread”.

From Monday to Friday, each morning the bakery team produces a variety of healthy wholesome organic breads and rolls, all baked with love for our customers. In addition there is a special wheat free and dairy free dietary range available on certain days as well as pastries and organic handmade biscuits and cakes.. The bread, pastries and biscuits which are baked each day are sold in the Lantern Shop and the bakery also provides bread for theresidents living onsite in the community. 

The Lantern Bakery prides itself on preparing and baking bread the “old fashioned way” using organic ingredients wherever possible without additives or preservatives in any of the products. This is not an ordinary bakery and involves much more than simply baking a loaf of bread. It provides meaningful work which makes a difference to many people’s lives. Through their work, individuals gain dignity and a sense of self-worth. There is an unspoken reverence and respect for the daily bread that is baked in the Lantern Bakery, there is recognition that a good loaf, baked with so much love and care, feeds much more than just the body.

The Lantern Café is situated within the Lantern Centre, an award winning, beautiful building, housing a shop selling fair trade gifts, organic food, organic toiletries, and environmentally friendly cleaning products, as well as our bookshop.

The Café menu offers organic teas, coffees, smoothies and other soft drinks. All our cakes are “home made”, including our delicious tea cakes. We are also pleased to offer a selection of breads, olives and tapas.

There is outside seating for the glorious sunny days with gardens, a pond and a small children’s play area.

The atmosphere is calm, a peaceful oasis to unwind and relax, have a potter around our lovely gift shop where some of the products for sale have been lovingly made on site in our workshops by true craftsmen.

We are on the doorstep of the New Forest and also Moors Valley Country Park with its cycle trailway (Castleman Trailway). Our Café is ideal for walkers and cyclists alike to take a breather and nourish body and soul.

Do come along and experience what we have to offer, we look forward to welcoming you!

We are happy to accept bookings for lunch or afternoon tea.

The Land Craft is a large and very varied workshop with jobs suitable for all abilities. There are 15 acres of land and gardens to maintain.

Our large Community garden has streams, ditches, flowerbeds and specimen trees all linked by a network of paths which we encourage the wider community to enjoy. Next to the Community Garden is our duck pond and chicken field where we produce free range eggs.

Much of our estate work is seasonal with grass cutting, hedge trimming and weeding predominantly in the summer and road sweeping and leaf collections in the winter. All the leaves collected from our site are composited into leaf mould. A combination of leaf mould and compost is sieved and used in potted plant production on our nursery.

We also like to be involved in craft activities using products from the gardens such as creating willow sculptures for the garden ,willow hearts for valentines, andadvent logs and rings for Christmas.

The Lantern Potters are an enthusiastic group of individuals, engaged in the process of creating beautiful and useful ceramic items for everyday use. 

The ware that is produced is often the result of teamwork in the different areas of production from manufacturing, decorating, glazing, but being an individual, each beautiful finished product, bears the skill, pride and commitment of each contributor.

The aim of the workshop is to create high quality products, alongside training and skills development. There are up to 8 adults with a learning difficulty working together with 2 experienced professional potters.

Our enjoyable ranges of tableware include breakfast and dinner sets, using a combination of slabs, jolly jigger and press mould techniques. Each team member contributes their unique abilities to create accomplished and attractive products. These ranges are developed alongside individual projects where creativity is explored.

The pottery is available for purchase through the Lantern Shop or during the Hampshire open studios in the Summer, or our Winter exhibition in November.

Each season has its own mood, this mood is reflected through the work we produce and the kind of materials we use.  We might take our inspiration from the natural environment around us or from the festivals we celebrate within the Lantern Community. The seasonal cycle creates a healing rhythm that connects us to the natural world, and reminds us of our commitment to working with what nature has to offer us.

You will find the seasonal team working with a diverse range of materials such as herbs from our garden, apples and blackberries from the Lantern Estate, willow, locally sourced sheep and alpaca fleece, paper and beeswax to name a few. Each material has its own character and requires different approaches ensuring we remain creative and flexible.

As well as working responsively to nature we are also working with whole processes. Our materials go through many different stages before culminating in a final product. Sheep fleece, for example, might need to be washed, dried, sorted, teased, carded and then wet or dry felted. The different aspects of these processes can be accessed by  members of our team depending on their interests, skills or abilities. We place emphasis on developing craft skills by building on techniques and adapting activities to suit individual needs and interests.

In a working day there will be up to eight individuals who have a range of diverse learning disabilities who are part of the team of skilled craft makers working within the workshop. In working closely as a group we develop not only technical skills but also social skills. Learning to collaborate with and support each other through the making process.

Each of the makers experiences a sense of pride and self worth from making something beautiful and useful that can be sold in our shop or at the Hampshire Open Studios or our Winter Fayre. The value and appreciation of our customers enhances the meaning we get from our working life.