National Needlework Archive

For day to day, special, and up to date information, such as closures due to bad weather etc., please click here to go onto our Facebook page.

The Old Chapel Textile Centre in Newbury, home of the National Needlework Archive, offer courses, workshops and exhibitions in sewing, haberdashery, needlecraft, textiles, embroidery, cross stitch, quilting and textile art. Our shop carries an extensive range of all needlework and sewing products including fabric, threads, wool, zips and patterns. We have an archive of historic textiles and patterns and are home to The Country Wife mural.

Kneelers

Why does the NNA keep a national database of kneelers? Because the NNA promotes all types of research into community needlework, and kneelers are an important carrier of local, family and community history and culture. A great deal of information recorded on kneelers is not to be found anywhere else. This makes them a unique and fascinating area of study, especially when looked at as a large scale comparative survey.

Kneelers are often labours of love, undertaken for many reasons, joyous and sad. They are often very beautiful, and are always interesting, however new or old they may be.

Help us to build this valuable resource of knowledge by recording the kneelers in your local church.

Making a record of the kneelers in your church or chapel is great for our records but is also good for your church and church visitors.

Send a stamped, self addressed envelope to the NNA for a form to record the kneelers in your church or chapel.

The kneelers above are from East Hoathly with Halland, East Sussex.

Upper Wield, Hampshire

Rumburgh, Suffolk