I have mentioned before that Bill, my husband, simply loves to travel. A far cry from when we met in 1977, when he did not have a passport and had no intention of leaving the UK. I took him on a trip to Boulogne as a day tripper and, as they say, the rest is history.
The outcome of his complete change of heart is that he is in charge of researching our trips and then surprising me with treats on the journey. Just such a surprise was a visit to the Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts.
This extraordinary place was founded in 1791 and closed as a community as late as 1960 – it is now a remarkable museum. The site includes 20 historic buildings and acres of gardens. The most iconic building has to be the imposing round barn you can see in my photographs.
We arrived quite late in the day, so we had a rather a whistle-stop romp around the buildings and then I just squeezed in a visit to the museum shop. I loved the strong and rich colours and the clean cut lines of the wooden buildings and furniture. Yes, I did buy a pretty Shaker box which had been made on the site.
I am sure when you look at these images you can see why I was inspired to create my Vintage Shaker Needleroll and Scissor Stand kit.
If you would like a little more history, these details are taken from the Hancock Museum brochure:
“The Shakers trace their beginnings to Manchester, England, in 1747. They called themselves The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing and soon became known as Shakers because of the trembling, whirling, and shaking they engaged in during ecstatic worship services. In 1774 the Shaker leader, Mother Ann Lee made the monumental decision to lead eight Shaker converts on a journey to America, seeking the freedom to live, work, and worship according to their main religious tenets: celibacy, communal life, and confession of sin. The Hancock Shaker Village Hancock was the third community among the eventual nineteen major Shaker communities established between 1787 and 1836 in New York, New England, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. The Museum collection, begun in 1960, has grown through purchase, gift, and bequest to become the largest documented and representative collection of Shaker artifacts available to the public at an original restored Shaker site.”
