Welcome to The Quinnell School of Blacksmithing

We are one of the leading blacksmithing course providers in the country, specialising in introductory blacksmithing courses and experience days for beginners

Our blacksmithing courses and experience days are suitable for absolute beginners (adults, and teenagers from the age of 14 upwards*) or for metalworkers seeking to gain a basic understanding or improvement of iron-forging techniques. Classes are limited to 8 students, each with their own forge, anvil, leg vice and necessary tools. We’ve been running courses now for more than 28 years. . .

The emphasis within our courses is on learning the seven basic techniques of hot forging during the making of decorative And/or useful objects; participants can expect to make several such objects to take home at the end of the course. Participants are encouraged to discover the properties of hot iron, with the sympathetic expert guidance of our excellent tutors.

The work rate can be intensive, and you should expect to become quite pleasantly tired by the end of each day.

Based in Leatherhead, Surrey, right next to our world-famous Fire and Iron Gallery in a pleasant semi-rural, historic setting, Our blacksmithing courses are run and managed by Tom Quinnell. Our family blacksmithing business has been running continuously since 1932, but our courses first took place back in 1996 when The Quinnell School of Blacksmithing was set up by Richard Quinnell. Richard was a prime mover in the 1970s revival of the craft of artist blacksmithing in the UK, and he was awarded the MBE in 1989 for his contribution. Tom is Richard’s grandson, and he is now the 5th generation to work at the site. After a successful 15-year career with Mercedes-Benz, Tom returned to work at Rowhurst Forge where he grew up and learned the craft from a very young age.

★★★★★

Check out our all-five-star google reviews here. Past students have described the experience as 'amazing' and 'mind blowing', and the satisfaction of proud makers showing off their achievements at the end of each course is very evident. With our decades of experience, and over 1700 happy students to date, we can confidently guarantee that you will enjoy yourself enormously!

Giving a course as a gift? A blacksmithing course makes an amazing and unforgettably unique present for a birthday, Christmas, retirement, or wedding anniversary (6th is an iron anniversary ; 11th is Steel - why not do a course together?) - we can supply you with a voucher that can be either printed at home or carefully gift-wrapped and either collected from us, or delivered via Royal Mail (simply select at checkout).                                    

It's also a great educational experience for a young person* - and a way for them to test their aptitude if they are thinking of taking metalworking up as a career (there are apprenticeships and college courses right up to BA (Hons) and MA level that we can advise on).

[*We can take younger students, down to 11 years old, but only on condition that if under 16, they must have a parent or close family adult member also booked on the course with them. they must be well-motivated and really want to take the course and must have reasonable stamina. Alternatively, we offer shorter and tailored ‘one on one’ courses, suitable for younger students - with these, an adult does not need to participate, but must be present and can observe throughout. For all students under 16, please contact us to discuss before booking.]