About the Foundation and its sources

What this is

Cedarvale Foundation writes workshop notes in two fields: local history and traditional crafts. We choose subjects that need little equipment and reward patience. There are seven workshops, a glossary, activity plans for teachers and a printable summary.

We use the word “foundation” in its plainest sense: a base to build on. We never ask for donations or payments, run appeals or sell anything, and the site never asks for payment details or personal information.

The project is independent. It has no building, no scheduled in-person classes and no connection with any school, archive, society or company. It is online only.

How facts are checked

• Each workshop ends with a “Basis of the facts” box that names the sources behind its claims.
• Only dates and facts that can be checked in published sources are included. If we are not sure, we leave a statement out.
• Numbers are rounded and marked as approximate. Where a pattern is an illustration, the page says so, and no real place is described.
• Where historians disagree, the page says it is debated.
• Each hands-on workshop is tested by making the thing from start to finish before it is published.
• There are no photographs, logos or copied text.

Sources

These are books and articles a reader can look up in a library. Editions are named only where they matter.

Local history, maps and records

• Hoskins, W. G. (1959). Local History in England. Longmans.
• Tiller, K. (2002). English Local History: An Introduction, 2nd edition. Sutton Publishing.
• Hey, D. (ed.) (1996). The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History. Oxford University Press.
• Tate, W. E. (1969). The Parish Chest, 3rd edition. Cambridge University Press.
• Kain, R. J. P. and Prince, H. C. (1985). The Tithe Surveys of England and Wales. Cambridge University Press.

Water mills

• Reynolds, T. S. (1983). Stronger than a Hundred Men: A History of the Vertical Water Wheel. Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Holt, R. (1988). The Mills of Medieval England. Blackwell.
• Langdon, J. (2004). Mills in the Medieval Economy: England 1300–1540. Oxford University Press.
• Smeaton, J. (1759). An experimental enquiry concerning the natural powers of water and wind to turn mills, and other machines, depending on a circular motion. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 51.
• Vitruvius. On Architecture, book X (first century BC).

Bookbinding

• Roberts, C. H. and Skeat, T. C. (1983). The Birth of the Codex. Oxford University Press for the British Academy.
• Szirmai, J. A. (1999). The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding. Ashgate.
• Gaskell, P. (1972). A New Introduction to Bibliography. Clarendon Press.

Lettering

• Johnston, E. (1906). Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering. John Hogg.
• Brown, M. P. (1990). A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600. British Library.

Plant dyeing

• Cardon, D. (2007). Natural Dyes: Sources, Tradition, Technology and Science. Archetype Publications.
• Hofenk de Graaff, J. H. (2004). The Colourful Past: Origins, Chemistry and Identification of Natural Dyestuffs. Archetype Publications.
• Garfield, S. (2000). Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour That Changed the World. Faber and Faber.

Block printing

• Tsien, T.-H. (1985). Paper and printing. In J. Needham (ed.), Science and Civilisation in China, volume 5, part 1. Cambridge University Press.
• Febvre, L. and Martin, H.-J. (1976). The Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing 1450–1800. NLB.
• Eisenstein, E. L. (1979). The Printing Press as an Agent of Change. Cambridge University Press.

Corrections

If you find a mistake, check it against a source above and tell your teacher or group leader. The site has no form and no published address. When a way to send corrections is ready, it will appear on the questions page.